The Clan Wars
by kchan95
Summary: When all seems lost, Rokudaime Hokage Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto and Godaime Kazekage Sabaku no Gaara come across a jutsu that will change everything and hopefully save themselves and their futures. Time Travel. Set in the era of the Shinobi Clan Wars. GaaNaru. Yaoi. Rated M for violence, language, and adult themes.
1. Prologue: The End of the World

The Clan Wars

Prologue: The End of the World

They were all dead. Everyone I loved, everyone I cared for. My village and my allies. They were all gone. I, Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto, had failed my role as Hokage. Konoha was gone, burned to ashes in the final attack by Obito and Madara Uchiha.

The good news: those two bastards were dead and never coming back. And my best friend and ally was alive: Gaara. Otherwise, pretty much everything had gone to shit.

He too had lost everything. A couple of months ago, Sunagakure was destroyed and his siblings and most of the villagers were killed in the process. Gaara and the remains of Sunagakure relocated into Konoha until they could find a time to rebuild. However, in the final attack, the rest of his shinobi died along with everyone else. Now he too had no one.

The war had gone on for what felt like forever. In reality, it had only been two years since its beginning. But, the devastation to the land and its people would take decades to heal. Not a single country had made it without major casualties.

We were sprawled on the ground, soaked in our own blood and the blood of our enemies. My chest was heaving, trying to taking as much air as possible. There was a large hole in my chest that I received from Madara. It hurt like hell. That bastard. I don't think that either Kurama or I had enough chakra to heal it. We were dying. Oh well. My only hope was that an afterlife existed where I could be reunited with those precious to me.

Gaara was next to me, on the ground writhing in pain. When we killed Madara and Obito, the jyuubi had once again become a stone statue. It had then cracked and fallen to pieces, releasing the bijuu within. What I can only assume to be Shukaku, had entered Gaara, bound to his soul from the seal engraved on Gaara's arm. However, Gaara's seal was broken from the extraction by Akatsuki and now Shukaku's chakra was killing him and it was painful.

My heart went out to Gaara seeing him suffer. If only I had the energy, if only I had the chakra, I could fix his seal. But, I didn't have the means. There was nothing that I could do. I closed my eyes, feeling myself drifting into the darkness that was death.

**Kit.**

_'Shut the fuck up, Kurama. I'm trying to die peacefully, damn it.' _I was annoyed. Why could that stupid fox leave me alone in my last few moments of life?

**There is a way out of this. I can still save you and Shukaku's brat.**

_'Huh?'_ was my intelligent response. _'Well, what are you going to do?'_

**Time travel. But, I need the rest of your chakra and Shukaku's chakra too.**

_'Hold on! Time travel?! That's not possible you stupid fox!'_

**More specifically, a time-space ninjutsu. However, we will be focusing on the time aspect instead of the space. I need you to wake up and grab onto Shukaku's vessel so I can get enough chakra.**

In a way it made sense. If there was time-space ninjutsu and I had clearly seen the movement through space at work when fighting Obito, then it must be possible to move through time. However, beyond that realization I could begin to comprehend the process to make it possible. I just decided to accept it for what it was.

_'Fine. How far are we going back?'_

**I don't know. It depends on how much chakra Shukaku has. Probably a couple of decades.**

I opened my eyes with renewed vigor and hope. We could survive. More importantly, we could fix this. We could make sure that none of it ever happened. I reached out to Gaara, who was now unconscious, but still spasming from pain. I reached out and grabbed his hand.

I felt Shukaku's demonic chakra begin to flow into me. Compared to my low reserves, it felt like an ocean of power. I heard Kurama chanting the jutsu in my head and focusing the chakra that he was receiving. With a flash of red light, we were gone and thrown into the past.


	2. More than a Couple of Decades

The Clan Wars

Chapter 1: More than a couple of Decades

**Kit! Stay awake! You need to fix Shukaku's seal before the Kazekage dies!**

I struggled to stay conscious so that I could help Gaara. I forced my eyes open to see a canopy of trees above me. It reminded me of the forest surrounding Konoha. It reminded me of the home that I was going to protect. The home that I was going to save.

I was still bleeding heavily and my blood was seeping into the soil around me. Its sharp coppery smell interfering with my senses. It seemed that even if the jutsu was a success it was still likely that I would die. But, I could save Gaara. A small amount of my chakra had returned and it was enough for me to fix his seal.

I rolled over onto my side to face Gaara. Thankfully, the arm with his seal on it was facing me, so I wouldn't have to put too much effort into reaching it. I dipped my fingers into the blood dripping from my chest wound. It was the only ink that I had. With the little energy that I had left, I ripped open the sleeve on Garra's shoulder to reveal his seal.

It was faint and parts were missing. From what little was left, I could see that it was crudely made. I can't believe that Chiyo used such a poorly made seal to create a Jinchuuriki. The seal was barely enough to hold back Shukaku. I could see why Gaara had had so many problems. If this seal had been used on a bijuu with more than one tail, then it wouldn't have worked.

I used my blood covered fingers to trace over the remains of the seal and to fill in the missing gaps. Seeing the crudely made seal, I had the unquenchable desire to make it better. I wanted to make it better so that way Gaara wouldn't suffer anymore. He had lived an incredibly difficult life because he was a Jinchuuriki. In many ways, his life was so much more difficult than mine.

Without even pausing to think about the consequences, I began adding another layer to the seal. I began painting intricate lines and kanji in by own blood in order to stabilize the seal. When I finished, I shakily began weaving seals. Inu. Hebi. Ushi. Tori. The seal glowed before the lines of kanji and runes settled, becoming permanent.

The effect was immediate. Gaara stopped twitching from pain and his breathing evened out and I felt an overwhelming exhaustion overcome me. The last thing I remembered was the sound of approaching footsteps and Kurama shouting at me in an attempt to keep me conscious.

* * *

I woke up on a hard, cold surface. It was dim, with only a small amount of light showing through. I tried to gain my bearings. I instantly noticed that I was no longer bleeding. My chest and various smaller wounds were wrapped in bandages. How long had I been unconscious? Long enough to regain a large portion of my chakra. I could feeling it boiling beneath the surface, warm and uncontrollable as always.

If I had chakra, then why were my not injuries healed? At the very least, the smaller cuts and bruises should be healed. But they weren't. I could see the smaller red splotches indicating that some of them were still bleeding. Thankfully, my chest did not seem to still be bleeding. It looked as if someone had begun the first stage of healing on it.

I braced my hand against the hard ground and pushed myself into an upright position, leaning against the wall. I felt an uncomfortable tug against my neck and I reached up to feel what was there. As soon as I placed my hand against the collar-like contraption on my neck, I felt a sharp sting of pain. It wasn't enough to really cause any damage, but more than enough to make me uncomfortable and cringe in pain. A chakra collar. What kind of place was I in? A chakra collar?! Those things were ancient and hadn't been used for over a century. There were much more efficient seals that could be used on prisoners. Just how far back in time had we gone? That brought me to another realization: apparently I was imprisoned.

_'Kurama?'_ First, I needed to establish what time I was in and that required talking to my furry friend. I felt a shift in my chakra as Kurama acknowledged my presence. _'How far back in time did we go?'_

**I'm unsure. Shukaku had a lot more chakra that I thought he would have. With the amount we used, I can only guess as to how far we went back.**

Great. We couldn't even be sure of what time we were in. We could only go off of guesses. I was afraid to ask for Kurama's estimate.

_'Then give me your best guess. How far?'_

**About a hundred years, give or take.**

_'A hundred years! And give or take how much?'_

**A decade. Going by the chakra collar on your neck, I would give a decade.**

Well, this was unexpected. What the hell was I supposed to do a hundred years in the past? All of our problems start about eighty years from now. And where the hell was Gaara?

As if sensing my worries, Kurama said, **I sense Shukaku nearby. He is very close. See if you can reach him so we can plan our next move.**

I looked around in the dim lighting to take in my surroundings. It appeared as if I was in a cell of some sort. This only further supported my theory that I was a prisoner. I could feel Kurama sharing his senses with me to help me detect where Gaara was. Kurama was right. He was very close. He was definitely within a few feet. However, he was not in my cell. Then, he must by in a nearby cell.

I listened carefully, trying to determine if there was anyone else nearby. I could sense a faint breathing, but no sound that would indicate that there was any type of guard nearby.

"Gaara?" I called out softly hoping that he would answer. I waited listening to see if the was a response.

There was a silent rustle that only I could hear and then a response. "Naruto?"

That was definitely Gaara. I would recognize that rough monotone anywhere. I heard his voice from my right and shifted towards the bars along my cell.

"Gaara? Are you alright?" I asked. I heard a shifting indicating that Gaara was doing the same as I. He was approaching his cell door.

"Yes. You?" His voice was much clearer, showing that he had indeed moved closer.

"Yeah. I am."

**Brat. Grab onto Shukaku's vessel. I will be able to communicate with Shukaku and he with his container. This way we will be able to plan without being heard.**

I reached my hand out through the bars of the cell slowly, hesitant that there might be measures to prevent me from doing so. There were none.

"Gaara," I said, "grab my hand."

I was sure from this angle that Gaara would be able to see my hand in the dim light and be able to reach it. I was right. He reached out to grab it and I would hear Kurama speaking in my mind to Shukaku. I could not hear Shukaku, but Kurama could. I assumed that it was much the same for Gaara.

At first, it took some persuasion on the part of Kurama to get Shukaku to cooperate. Shukaku was still the same bloodthirsty and insane demon that I had met all of those years ago. After, many threats on the part of Kurama, Shukaku finally began to cooperate.

Through Kurama and Shukaku, I explained what had happened and what time we were in. I also explained to Gaara, the effects of the new seal I had placed on him. The new seal would allow him to sleep and ignore Shukaku for the most part. However, I warned him that if he was ever incredibly low on chakra and my fell unconscious, it was likely that Shukaku could take over him.

We then began to plan what we were going to do. We created cover stories in case we ended up being questioned which was highly like since we were prisoners. Our main goals were fairly simple: stay alive, figure out the specific time that we were in, and save our future.

Having Gaara's presence was reassuring for me. It calmed me and allowed me to think more clearly. It made me realize that if Kurama's estimate of what time we were in was accurate, then Madara was likely alive and not yet as powerful as he will be one day in the future. That meant that if we planned this correctly, we could very easily save the future.

However, a darker thought crossed my mind. We had to be very careful about what we changed. If we weren't careful, we could very well prevent the creation of the hidden villages.

* * *

It had been three days. Three days since we had awoken in our cells and there has been no sign of anyone. There was no one else imprisoned along with Gaara and myself. We had not received any food or water nor had there been any indication that our captors had remembered we were here.

We were lucky that as Jinchuuriki we were much more resilient than normal humans. The chakra collars did not prevent access to our chakra to the point where our bijuu could not sustain us. They may have not been able to heal us, but they could keep us alive.

If worst came to worst, Kurama was more than capable of overloading the chakra collars so that way we could use jutsu. However, we had come to the conclusion that it would be better to keep them on and wait and see. We needed to more thoroughly assess our situation before making our move. And, we needed to figure out who our captors were.

After much hypothesizing, Gaara and I had come to the conclusion of some likely captors. I remember that when we originally had arrived we were surrounded by trees found around Konoha. This likely meant that we were in fire country. If we were in fire country, the we were most likely being imprisoned by one of the main clans. Senju, Uchiha, Nara, Akimichi, Yamanaka, Hyuuga, Aburame, Sarutobi, or Inuzuka. All originated from fire country, and all were powerful.

There wasn't much that we could do aside from communicating through our bijuu. We did not want to speak aloud incase someone had the means to listen. But, there was only so much talking that we could do. I was bored out of my mind. I hated being trapped. Gaara was a lot better off.

Growing up without being able to sleep had meant that Gaara had had a lot of time on his hands. He could deal with boredom much better than I. Maybe that was why whenever we had meetings he was so much more attentive. It was also probably why we completed his paperwork on time. When it had come to paperwork, I had thoroughly cheated the system and had used kage bunshin. I had enough chakra, so why not?

So I was hungry and bored out of my mind and dreaming of ramen. Was ramen even invented yet? Gah! The nightmares I was going to suffer if ramen wasn't invented yet. If necessary, I would invent it and spread its awesomeness across the land.

All of a sudden light flooded our dim prison. A door had been opened and I could see the silhouettes of three figures in the doorway. Two were fairly tall and bulky in shape, while one was slightly shorter and lean. Two men and one woman. They gracefully entered the room. Their feet made no sound as they walked indicating that they were shinobi.

"Look. They're still alive. Impressive," the female commented. She didn't sound impressed. Just incredibly bored and impassive. As she stepped closer I could see her more clearly. She was wearing black shinobi armor that clung tightly to her curves. I blinked in surprise at the overwhelming size of her breasts. They were as large as Tsunade-baa-chan's! Upon closer inspection I noticed remarkable similarities between the woman and Tsunade. The same hair, the same eyes. It clicked. Was this her ancestor?! Did that mean we had been captured by Senju?

"That's good, Aki. Then we can get some information out of them." It was one of the men who had responded. They too could be seen more clearly now that they had stepped into the light.

Holy shit. Hashirama and Tobirama Senju. We had definitely been captured by Senju. There was no doubt now. Thankfully, my hand was still in contact with Gaara's meaning Kurama could instantly relay the information.

I warily watched them approach our cells. They looked incredibly young, much younger than their appearances than on the Hokage monument. The woman, Aki I think it was, appeared to be the eldest and in her late twenties. Hashirma looked like he was twenty-three or twenty-four. Tobirama appeared to be about my age or Gaara's age- eighteen or nineteen.

Aki approached my cell and squatted down in front of the door. She looked at me with interest. "Let's have some fun, why don't we?" she asked smirking lightly. She stood up and Tobirama and Hashirama stood on either side of her. Tobirama had his hand resting on sword and on guards. Hashirama, however, appeared completely relaxed. He began weaving seals at an insanely fast rate and I tensed and rose to my feet, waiting and knowing there wasn't much that I could do. There wasn't much I could do against a mokuton user especially since I was a Jinchuuriki. This was practically the worst situation that I could be in.

Roots began to creep up from the floor and began winding around my legs. I did my best to stay still and not to appear as a threat. I could hear a shifting sound to my right indicating that the same was happening to Gaara. The roots were uncomfortable and I hated their feel. I remember that whenever Yamato used his technique to suppress my bijuu chakra I always hated the feeling that came with it. At the time I was grateful for him keeping me in control. However, I still hated the feeling. It made me feel sick and nauseous just coming into contact with the wood. I could hear Kurama growling in distant in the back of my head and I knew that he hated it just as much as I.

Once we were secured, Aki bit her thumb and dragged her blood covered finger across the cell door. It opened. A blood seal. Clever.

Aki smiled at me and glanced over to where Gaara was. "If you would be so kind as to follow me," she said. As if we had a choice. She and Tobirama began to walk down the hallway. The roots around me shifted forcing me to follow after them. Gaara was pushed out from the cell next to me and I was finally able to get a clear look at his appearance. He was in much better condition than myself. That I was glad for. Like me, his injuries were wrapped in bandages but the chakra collar prevented them from healing. However, I couldn't see and large or life threatening wounds. He had a look of unease on his face which I figures was likely from coming into contact with mokuton. Unlike me, he had never experienced it before and was having a difficult time adjusting. And knowing Shukaku, he was probably rampaging inside of Gaara's mind giving Gaara a headache. Stupid tanuki.

We were heading down the hallway with Hashirama close behind us controlling our every move. I could see a door at the end of the hallway and Aki opened it revealing a room. We were both led into the room and the door was closed, but our binds were not removed from us.

"We have some questions to ask. Answer truthfully, then you'll live. Lie, then we'll force the answer out of you," Aki said. She was clearly the one in charge. This was supported by the fact that so far she had been the only one to address us. I nodded. Gaara and I had prepared for this situation so most likely we could work through it without making the Senju suspicious about us. "Let's start with an easy question. What are your names and origins?"

Simple enough. I answered first. "Naruto. I was born in Tsuchi no kuni."

"Last name?"

"I don't have one. I'm an orphan." I'm very good at lying. I learned that mixing some truth within the lies helps a lot and I was confident that I would be able to trick them. After all, you don't become Hokage without being able to lie. Politics doesn't operate on the truth and facts.

"And you?" she asked directing her gaze towards Gaara.

"Sabaku no Gaara. Kaze no kuni." Straight and to the point. That's Gaara for you.

"It seems unusual for you two to have been found together especially since you are from different countries. Mind explaining?" She addressed us very casually in a way that almost made it seem as if we had a choice. It was very creepy. She kind of reminded me of Anko, in a way.

"We are travelers. We wander a lot from city to city and country to country. We met each other a couple of years ago and have traveled together ever since." Pretty generic and broad response. Not much that they can work with. I doubt that they want to listen to our whole life story. Other than the way we were found, they was nothing suspicious about us.

"You two have rather strong chakra for wanderers..." Aki commented leaving it opened ended.

"We have been trained in shinobi arts," I explained. There was not point in trying to hide it, really. Especially since we both had seals placed prominently on our bodies and we had shinobi weapons on us. "You can't expect us to travel around and not be killed without some training." I made a disbelieving face as if it should be obvious.

"How exactly did you learn the shinobi arts?" Also easy enough to answer.

"I was originally part of a nomadic clan in kaze no kuni where I learned as a child," Gaara responded. Out of the two of us, Gaara was definitely the best at lying. His voice and face revealed no emotion preventing people from being able to tell he was lying.

Aki turned to my expectantly, waiting for my answer. "I learned from a traveling hermit," I responded keeping as close to the truth as possible. "I picked up my wandering habit from the old pervert."

Aki looked slight taken aback at my response. "And this master of yours?"

"Dead." This was true. Even though it hadn't technically happened yet, I had lived with the death of Jiraiya for well over two years.

She continued the process of questioning us asking a wide range of questions. Most of them seemed pointless but I could see the underlying intent. they were waiting for us to slip up or lie. Some sort of tell that would possibly give away our true intentions. They want to assess completely if we were a threat or not. Aki did most of the questioning with Hashirama occasionally interjecting with a question. Tobirama stayed completely silent and carefully watched the proceedings. Then they started with the more difficult questions.

"Why were you in Hi no kuni?" Hashirama asked.

"Wandering," was Gaara's response. His tone clearly indicated that it should have been obvious.

"Why were you on Senju land? And why were you so injured?" We had to play this one out carefully. If we said the wrong thing, then our lie would be obvious.

"Originally we were not on Senju land," I explained, "but we were ambushed. It was likely that we crossed into your land while fighting."

"And who attacked you?" Aki asked.

"From what I could tell they were shinobi. Five of them," Gaara responded. Five was a believable. If it was an enemy clan then that was the appropriate number for a patrol. If it was a group of rogues it was a number that would not go easily noticed but be enough trouble to cause even skilled travelers some trouble.

Aki seemed to accept the response. It was perfectly reasonable. After all, it had looked like we had been left for dead.

Hashirama stepped forward creating a handseal. The roots around Gaara and I shifted revealing my stomach and his shoulder. Hashirama yanked up the bandages covering my stomach to reveal my seal. I squirmed uncomfortably. This could be a problem. Of course Gaara and I had discussed this but we hadn't really come up with a solution to explain them.

"What is the purpose of this seal? And the one that Gaara has on his shoulder? It looks quite complex," he observed.

"I've had it ever since I was a baby," I said keeping it as close to the truth as possible. "I'd rather not talk about it." This too was the truth. I really didn't want to talk about it. But I had a feeling that this wouldn't go over very well with our captors.

Hashirama turned his piercing state towards Gaara expectantly waiting for his response. "Same," Gaara responded. Hashirama frowned at this while Aki smiled.

"It looks like I get to have some fun after all," she cheered. Hashirama stared at her with distaste.

"You are way to sadistic and blood loving for a medic," he commented.

Aki waved his comment away, not bothered in the least. She stepped forward and grabbed my chin looking into my eyes. "Let's have some fun, Naruto-kun." Yep. She definitely reminded me of Anko. Only Anko had this much joy at the prospect of torturing people.

"Aki-nee?" Tobirama asked hesitantly. It was the first time he had spoken. He looked queasy at the prospect of torture. And the way he addressed Aki... where they related? The history books had never mentioned Hashirama and Tobirama having an older sister. "Isn't Mito-sama coming by in a few days? Couldn't she just look at their seals to determine their purpose."

Aki looked surprised that Tobirama had spoken up. She pouted at his word. "I suppose you're right," she said. She looked incredibly disappointed that she may not have a good reason to torture us. She glanced at Hashirama and asked, "How long until your lovely fiance is here?"

"Two days."

Aki patted both Gaara and I on our head like we were pets. I saw Gaara's eye twitch with annoyance. "I guess we'll see you in two days, boys."

They escorted Naruto and Gaara back to their individual cells and sealed them in.

"Shouldn't we get them some food and water?" Tobirama asked. I liked this guy. He seemed a bit naive but he wanted to feed us, so who cares?

"Hmm... I'll get them some water," Aki said.

"And food?"

"Naw, they'll be fine," she responded nonchalantly. She exited our prison pulling along a reluctant Tobirama and having a silent Hashirama following close behind.


	3. What the hell do we do now?

The Clan Wars

Chapter 2: What the hell do we do now?

Have I ever said how much I hate being bored? I hate doing nothing and I hate having nothing to do. I was sure that by the end of the two days, Gaara was going to break out of his cell and kill me. An annoyed Gaara is not a fun one. Trust me.

But, it wasn't all bad. They gave us water, so the huge headache that was developing had diminished greatly. Scratch that. It was a nightmare. I was starving. You would think that after a few days without food my stomach would just accept that fact it wasn't getting fed anytime soon. But, no. It had to either ache, or keep growling, or make me dream of ramen in my sleep. Oh, the torture! And then I would be miserable and mope and then Gaara would call me a drama queen. It really hurt my feelings, you know. Having your only remaining friend call you a drama queen and tell you to shut up and deal with it. Personally, I think Gaara was hungry too and it was making him grumpy.

I did get to spend a lot of time with Gaara. Even if we only communicated through our bijuu we talked a lot. I don't know when it happened. Maybe it was when I thought Gaara had died all those years ago when he was kidnapped by Akatsuki. Or maybe it was when I became Hokage and we saw each other a lot more often for things like war meetings and solidifying our alliance. But somewhere along the way, I started thinking of Gaara as more than just a friend. I mean we were the best of friends but it was more like we had a connection of some sort. Now I sounded all mushy and fluffy. But, really, I cared more for him than just a regular friend would.

And its not like one of those bonds between brothers or something. Cause man, Gaara was hot! Yes, yes. I was greatly attracted to him. But who wouldn't be? Not only was he gorgeous, but he was the best friend I could ever have. He always seemed to understand my thought process. Which, by the way, there wasn't much rhyme or reason to the order of my thoughts. Things sometimes just popped into my head. I couldn't help it.

But, I was stuck. Not only were we in the middle of saving out futures but Gaara was clueless! I mean he was a total genius, a great leader, and fantastic friend, but he had the emotional intelligence of a baby! Sometimes he just didn't understand why people acted a certain way. It was probably because of his horrible childhood. He had no social interaction. Even less than myself. He had progressed greatly in the last couple of years, ever since he stopped going on killing sprees. He had made friends and reconnected with his family; gained the trust and admiration of his village.

So how was I to know if he was capable or not of returning my feelings or even understanding them? Despite how much Kurama insisted, it wasn't like I could just jump him or something. Yes, the demon trapped in my stomach was incredibly horny. Apparently, not having sex for over eighteen years does that to a person... umm... demon.

Now that I was sure of my feelings, I knew that I had to proceed cautiously. Who knew that being trapped for a couple days was so good for sorting out your emotions? Maybe I should try it more often.

* * *

I woke up to the sound of a door opening and a sudden brightness within our prison. Knowing Gaara, he was most likely awake. In fact, it was incredibly likely that he hadn't slept at all since our capture. But, he was more than capable of staying awake for this long. He had had plenty of practice.

It was the same three who had interrogated us two days ago: Aki, Hashirama, and Tobirama. However, they were accompanied by a woman. Her long, red hair was pulled up into buns and she wore a dark green battle kimono. Mito Uzumaki. I recognized her from the history books.

I suspected that the Senju wanted to examine our seals and determine their purpose since we were so reluctant to reveal it. We could only hope for the best.

Like two days ago, Hashirama bound us with his mokuton and we were escorted to the interrogation room. Hashirama maneuvered the roots so my stomach and Gaara's shoulder were revealed.

"Mito, could you take a look at these seals for us?" Hashirama asked.

Mito silently glided forward. "Remember that I am not yet a seal master. I may not be able to determine their full purpose," she responded.

"Try your best, Mito-chan. Anything helps," Aki reassured.

Mito examined Gaara's seal first, lifting his ripped seal so she could examine it more easily. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at it. "This one has two separate layers. The original was broken and repaired and the second layer is used for reinforcement. The original seal is poorly made but the second layer is incredibly complex and very similar to Uzumaki fuuinjutsu." She looked sharply at Gaara. "Who drew this second layer?" she asked.

Gaara's eyes narrowed, but he remained silent. Mito's eyes tightened with annoyance.

Aki shifted impatiently. "But what is its purpose?" she asked.

"I think it is meant to suppress or contain something," she responded. "It is difficult to read the original seal because it is so poorly made."

"Contain or suppress what?" Hashirama asked.

"As far as I can tell... chakra."

Suspicion showed clearly on their faces. It made no sense to them. Why would anyone want to suppress their chakra?

"What about that one?" Aki asked jerking her head in my direction.

Mito bent down slightly over my stomach and pulled up the bandages to get a better look at the seal. Her eyes widened and I heard a sharp intake of breath from her. Shit.

"Who placed this seal?" she demanded forcefully looking upwards towards me.

"Why does it matter?" I asked stalling. No way in hell was I telling her anything.

"Why does it matter? Because that it based of an Uzumaki fuuinjutsu that is _forbidden_! And it has been turned into something so complex and powerful that I could barely determine what it was based off of!" she ranted becoming angry. I kept my mouth shut, refusing to answer.

The others within the room looked taken aback at her frustration and anger.

"Forbidden?" Hashirama asked. "What does it do?"

"Yes, forbidden. Only the Uzumaki royal family even knows about it. I can't tell you what it does because it is a secret," she explained.

"So what do we do?" Tobirama asked.

"I don't know. Whatever you want," Mito sighed waving them off.

"Hmm... Let's just get it over with and execute them," Aki said.

"No!" Mito exclaimed. "Not that! This one," she said pointed at Gaara, "has what it likely a containment seal for chakra. If he dies it could all explode out! And that one," she continued point at Naruto, "cannot be killed no matter what! That is the worst thing you could do with his type of seal!"

Well, for the most part, it appeared that they weren't going to kill us. Or, they could just decide that keeping us alive isn't worth the risk. But, from the way they were looking at us, I didn't expect to be set free at any point. Great. I could also see a look of curiosity eating away at Tobirama. Apparently, he really wanted to know what my seal was for.

* * *

Mito Uzumaki ushered her companions into a private room. They had just returned from the interrogation and they were all on edge, especially with Mito's reaction.

They entered a small room with a table and several chairs around it. They all sat down except for Mito who paced anxiously.

Aki propped her head on her hand and sighed, bored. "If we can't kill them, then what are we to do?" she asked.

Hashirama glanced at Mito. "If we knew what the seals were for, then we could plan accordingly," he stated. "Are you sure there is nothing you can tell us?"

"Not with out permission from the Uzumaki clan head," Mito stated bluntly.

"What's the worse that could happen?" Tobirama asked.

Mito sighed wondering how much she could say and not reveal the secret. "Let's just say... that if we make a wrong move, we could have the wrath of the Shinigami come down on us."

"That bad, huh? Wow," Aki commented appreciatively, not seeming worried in the least.

"Can you obtain permission from your grandfather to reveal the secret behind the seal?" Hashirama asked.

"I could. But, that would require showing the seals to him. I'm sure that you don't want to drag them across Hi no Kuni to get to Uzu no Kuni."

"It might be the best option that we have," he mused.

"So it's settled! I'll go obtain permission from father to go to Uzu no Kuni," Aki exclaimed. Tobirama rolled his eyes at his older sister's antics.

* * *

We had been traveling for several days now towards Uzu no Kuni. Unfortunately, our guards wouldn't remove the chakra collars making is difficult to travel at a fast pace. However, despite not being able to enhance our muscles with chakra, Gaara and I are still incredibly strong and able to keep up.

Mito, Tobirama, and Hashirama were escorting us to Uzu no Kuni. Aki had been forced to stay behind by order of her father, the Senju clan head. I had seen her mutter angrily to herself as we had departed in the dark of the early morning.

We eventually stopped for the night and began to set up camp. Gaara and I were carefully watched and always accompanied by Hashirama or Mito where ever we went. At least we were being fed. Almost a week without food had nearly driven me insane!

I plopped down on the ground next to Gaara who has leaning against a tree. I sagged against him feeling tired and beginning to drift off into sleep. I saw out of the corner of my eye, Gaara glance at me, but he made no move to push me off. I was glad for that.

Even if it was just leaning against him, being in contact with Gaara made me calm down. I felt constantly nauseous from the mokuton restrains that Hashirama had placed on us. I know Gaara felt just as bad.

Tobirama frowned as he entered the clearing with a pile of firewood and saw how tired we looks. "You guys can't honestly be that tired?" he asked in disbelief. "You said you were travelers!"

I glowered at him in annoyance. I roughly tugged at the chakra collar around my neck. "Yeah, well, it's kinda hard to travel at your pace with no chakra," I pointed out. I didn't bother mentioning that the mokuton restraints were the real problem. It would cause too many suspicions. I'd rather that they not find out about of being Jinchuuriki. I huffed with annoyance and slouch over even farther, letting my head fall into Gaara's lap.

Hee-hee. I've been trying to get a reaction out of Gaara the last couple of days to see if he had any feelings towards me. So far it hadn't been working. Gaara was perfect at hiding his reactions as usual. Or maybe he didn't fully understand normal social conventions and didn't think my actions as odd. Everyone else certainly noticed it. Tobirama had been shooting me wierd looks and Hashirama had trying his best to ignore us. I had seen Mito blush a couple of times at some of the less subtle things I had been doing. Huh. I never would've seen her as a yaoi fangirl type.

This time, however, as I rested my head in Gaara's lap I felt him stiffen. Internally, I smirked. Outwardly, I remained calm even as I saw Tobirama shoot me a look of embarassed confusion. He just didn't get it. I sighed and closed my eyes, beginning to drift off into sleep.

I wasn't particularly worried that something might happen to me while I slept. I knew that Gaara was still not sleeping. He was just too paranoid to sleep in the proximity of the Senju since they could still possibly mean us harm.

* * *

We had just finished crossing through a large area of land owned by the Takezashi Clan which bordered the sea between Hi no Kuni and Uzu no Kuni, Senju land, and Uchiha land. We quickly approached a port by the name of Suizan where we would be able to take a boat to Uzu no Kuni.

Mito, Hashirama, and Tobirama were on edge as we crossed through the land and Gaara and I immediately went on guard. It had me worried since they had said that the Takezashi Clan was an ally of theirs.

I hated boats with a passion. I had the worst case of motion sickness. I could see Gaara's amusement at my predicament.

"Ha ha," I said dryly, catching his attention. "You're one to talk, sand boy!" He raised a thin, non-existent eyebrow in question. "Don't you dare mock me," I groaned. I was in a really bad mood. The combination of sea sickness and feeling of the mokuton was making be incredibly sick and grouchy.

Hashirama watched my rant ing amusement. Tobirama watched in confusion. "But... Gaara didn't say anything," he said uncertainly.

"He doesn't have to say anything!" I exclaimed. "He had that superior look about him," I huffed. "He can't even swim!"

Gaara grimaced and looked over the edge of the boat and into the water. "Don't remind me," he said.

"You can't swim?" Hashirama asked. He seemed genuinely curious. It was strange to run into someone trained in the shinobi arts who couldn't swim especially since shinobi had to learn water walking at some point.

"I don't like the water." Gaara didn't say anymore on the matter as if that was a good enough explanation. I smirked at the curious and confused expressions on Tobirama and Hashirama's faces.

Shukaku was the reason why Gaara didn't like the water. But, they didn't know that. Also, water destroyed Gaara's sand armor so he avoided it as much as possible even though he currently wasn't wearing it.

Mito stepped out of the main cabin on the boat, having just finished a conversation with the captain. She had a look of distaste on her face as she came stomping out. I heard her muttering curses and something about a perverted, old captain. Great. I just needed more perverts in my life.

"We'll reach the port in Uzu no Kuni in about five hours," she told us still scowling fiercely. I inched away from her, having no desire to deal with an angry woman. Uzumakis were unpredictable when annoyed or angry. I would know. I am an Uzumaki!


	4. Old Man Uzumaki

The Clan Wars

Chapter 3: Old man Uzumaki

Hashirama was keeping a very close eye on us as if he expected us do to something. It was very annoying. If I had wanted to attack him then I would have done it already. Hmph. Maybe it was because we were approaching the Uzumaki royal palace. As if I would go through all of this trouble to try and assassinate the head of Uzugakure. Damn paranoid bastard. Then again, all shinobi are paraniod to some extent.

Uzu no kuni's capital city was incredibly organized. I mean, the place was neat. No run-down buildings, crooked roads, awkward houses. It was kind of weird. Its structure reminded me of a hidden village. This is were the design must have come from. As far as I was aware, Uzu was the only country that had a village where shinobi and civilians mixed and various major families came together. However, the ruler of Uzu was very similar to that of a kage.

I could see the palace in the distance and it wasn't quite what I expected. It was like a fortress. It looked like it could hold everyone on the island. That's probably what it was for. Makes me wonder how much fire power it had taken to bring this place down during the second shinobi war. Maybe that was one of the things that Gaara and I could change.

At the main entrance to the palace there were two guards, but I could sense several others lurking in the shadows and at strategic locations. Also, there were seals everywhere. The walls, the ground, the ceilings... all covered in seals. There were too many for me to read them all but what I did see were amazing. Seals for security, barriers, weapons, transportation, detection, entrapment, obstruction... Seals everywhere! I was practically drooling.

Gaara quirked an eyebrow at my expression of bliss at we walked through the palace. He just didn't understand the awesomeness that was seals. You could do amazing things with! Just think of what I did with his seal on his arm.

Gaara was looking tired. I was really worried about him. With the chakra collar, he wasn't able to access enough of Shukaku's chakra to stay awake that easily. And in his condition, a week and a half without sleep was quickly wearing him down.

I'm pretty sure that our 'escorts' had noticed Gaara's inability/reluctance to sleep. One of them was always guarding and they had most likely noticed. If they hadn't then they don't deserve to be shinobi. It wasn't that difficult to figure out that he didn't sleep!

We approached a set of huge red doors covered with a single, huge, detailed seal. It was so complex that I had no idea what it did. Mito didn't even hesitate to push open one of the doors and lead us inside. I noticed Hashirama step even closer to Gaara and I and the chakra circulating through the mokuton restraints increased. I suddenly felt dizzy but manage to not show any reactions. I could see the lack of focus in Gaara's eyes and I knew that he felt the same.

I reached over and grabbed his forearm to steady him. He gave me a greateful look. Well as grateful as he could look while keeping the emotionless look in his face. But, I'm an expert a interpreting Gaara's subtle twitches.

The room itself wasn't that large or even amazing. It was fairly plain in appearance with a large, comfortable looking chair containing an elderly man. The chaiir looked really comfy. I wanted to sit in it. The old man smiled as we approached.

Mito stopped before the man and bowed. "Oji-sama, I have a request," she said.

His grin grew slightly before he chuckled. His laugh was deep and resonating and filled with power. "Ah, Mito-chan. No need to be so formal," he said. He frowned. "I miss the days where you used to call me jiji."

Mito winced. "Oji-sama, I am not a little girl and I must show you proper respect."

"Hmm... I suppose. Before your request, why don't you remove those horrid chakra collars from our guests?" he asked.

"They have those chakra collars on for a reason. They could be an enemy or dangerous. They have unusual seals on them and they refuse to reveal their purpose," she explained. I shifted uneasily. Seeing as this man was the Uzumaki head, he would without a doubt be a seal master and would know what my seal was for. Crap.

The old man laughed. "They are no enemy of yours, Mito-chan. If they had wanted to, they could had easily overloaded those chakra collars and attacked you. But, they didn't. Hashirama-kun, release your mokuton jutsu as well. It is making them nauseous."

Mito, Tobirama, and Hashirama gaped. I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly and Gaara huffed and rolled his eyes. After a moment, Hashirama seemed to regain his senses and he put his hands into a seal a released both the chakra collar and the mokuton restraints.

I immediately felt the feeling of sickness disappear and a surge of chakra. Next to me, I heard Gaara give a sigh of relief. The Uzumaki head smiled and stood from his chair. "Let's take a look at those seals of yours. I have my suspicions already as to what they could be," he said striding forward.

I decided to hope for the best as I waited for him to approach. He walked up to Gaara first, much to my relief. Gaara stood perfectly still as the old man observed his arm. The man said nothing as he brushed his fingers along the seal. I could see how uncomfortable Gaara was. He was unused to physical contact, especially from strangers.

The old man nodded to himself before stepping in front of me. He looked at me expectantly. I gave him a quick glare before removing my black shirt. The seal was still visible on my stomach and hadn't vanish yet. It was odd considering I wasn't using any chakra right now. Hmmm... I would have to ask Kurama about that later.

"Interesting seal you have there," he commented. "Amazing. May I ask the name of your seal?" he asked.

I decided to mollify him. "Shiki Fuujin," I said. He probably already knew what it did. Might as well attempt to get on his good side.

"Yes. I am quite familiar with a seal very similar to it. I also involves making a deal with the Shinigami."

I already knew this. I had intensively studied the original shiki fuujin seal in order to better understand my own. The original was merely capable of summoning the Shinigami in order to seal a soul and send it to hell. My seal, however, was capable of binding the soul to my own and allowing me to draw upon its energy. My father truly was a genius.

In theory, if Kurama wanted to leave my body he wouldn't have to apply much force. However, the moment he did, I would die and then he would be dragged to hell and stuck there because of the binding between our souls. The only possibility of freedom for him was the removal or unraveling of the seal complete and the disconnection of our souls.

At the words of the old Uzumaki head, the Senju brothers paled and Mito looked grim.

"What deal did you make with the death god?" Mito demanded. She opened her mouth to say more but she was cut off by her grandfather.

"Do not be hasty, Mito-chan. If I am correct, the one who made the deal is no longer alive," he said looking towards me for confirmation. I nodded.

"What information can you provided us about their seals, Uzumaki-sama?" Hashirama asked.

"Hmmm... I think that I would like to talk to them in private before I reveal anything. I think that they'll make for some interesting conversation."

I had no idea what the old man was trying to do, but from the expression on Mito's face she did. "Jiji!" she exclaimed, forgetting formalities. The old man smiled at her reaction. "You do not know their intentions," she continued. "It is not safe!"

"I have to disagree, Mito-chan. I am fairly certain that if they meant harm they would have already done it. There is little holding them back and there is not much that we could do to stop them."

At that point I knew for sure that he realized we were Jinchuuriki. And why we wanted to talk to us in private and did not reveal our secrets to the others, I did not know. Whatever this old man was up to, I did not like or trust it. I could see the weary look Gaara had in his eyes and I knew that he felt the same. Our positions as kage had quickly taught us to not trust a nice face, nor a seemingly happy one. Gah. Politics.

Us going with his to talk in private was our only option. We needed to keep as much about us as possible a secret. Maybe humoring his curiosity would allow this to happen.

The Uzumaki head quickly quieted the protests of his granddaughter and the Senju brothers and led Gaara and I through a side door out of the room. We entered a small sitting room filled with several chairs.

"Sit down, why don't you," he said gesturing towards the chairs. I plopped down in a chair with an omph, but remained standing and leaned against a wall. The old man must have recognized the futility of trying to force Gaara into anything and did not insist. "As you likely know, I am the Uzumaki Clan head and the ruler of Uzu no Kuni," he said. "My name is Uzumaki Kenji."

We had a name. Kenji. I didn't recognize the name. But then again, there wasn't much about Uzu no kuni in the history books. I shifted in my seat uncomfortably, but responded with my name. "Naruto." He raised an eyebrow at the lack of last name, but I didn't give him one.

"Sabaku no Gaara," Gaara said.

"Hmmm... From Kaze no kuni? You must contain Shukaku," he commented with a gleam in his eye. We both stiffened, but remained in our places. He had not made a move to harm us. He had just merely stated what we all knew. He was a cunning man.

He continued speaking, ignoring our responses. "I did not know that creating a Jinchuuriki was even possible," he commented. "So far I have only seen theories. Most unusual and interesting that you both are Jinchuuriki. What bijuu do you contain?" he asked looking towards me.

I didn't respond to his question. Instead, I decided to get straight to the point. "What do you want?" I bluntly asked. Even when I was Hokage, I rarely used diplomacy. Some people just weren't capable of politics. I was one of those people, for the most part. I was good with people, not bull shitting and kissing up. Gaara wasn't very good with politics either. He was usually even more blunt than I.

"I truly am curious about your origins. I also want to know why you didn't break free from the Senju. As far as I am aware, you shouldn't have a reason to have stayed."

He was correct of course. He couldn't see the reason because it was so insane and unrealistic that few would think of it. And if one did think of it, they were definitely insane.

"Gaara is from a nomadic tribe in kaze no kuni and i'm an orphan from tsuchi no kuni. We travel around a lot. Got attacked in hi no kuni and capture by the Senju and then came here. We didn't have a reason to attack the Senju so we didn't." Short and to the point. I could tell he didn't believe me.

Kenji stared at me pensively. "From your appearance, I would guess that you either contain the nibi or kyuubi."

"Huh? Appearance?"

"Your whiskers. So which is it?"

He was too observant for his own good. I sighed. "Kyuubi," I said. He was probably going to figure it out anyways.

"I thought so. That seal was way to powerful be used for the nibi. So, where did you get that seal?" Kenji asked, serious. "Only Uzumaki royalty know about it." He was concerned about traitors or a breach of security. It made sense. It was the only reasonable explanation. Too bad our situation isn't reasonable.

"It doesn't matter. He is dead," I said.

He looked annoyed at my answer. "We'll come back to it then. Who taught your Uzumaki fuuinjutsu?"

Damn it. He figured it out. However, I decided to play dumb. "Huh?" I asked.

Kenji chuckled. "Don't play dumb. You reinforced Gaara's seal. I could sense your chakra infused within the ink. I'm a sensor."

Just my luck. A sensor. Of course we would figure it out that easily if he had sensing abilities. And from what I could tell, they were very advanced.

"It doesn't matter who I learned it from. He's dead," I responded. I'm seem to be using dead people as an excuse a lot.

Kenji stared at me without emotion, his eyes hard. "Naruto-san, I need a proper explanation or otherwise I will reveal that you are Jinchuuriki."

Ouch. Blackmail. Very good blackmail. I didn't mind being chased down to keep the fact that we were time travelers a secret. But, Gaara on the other hand... Well, he didn;t really have a choice, I brought him with me and I didn't want him to suffer anymore than he already had. It was bad enough that he was a Jinchuuriki once again.

I glanced over at Gaara unsure. I knew he could read what I wanted in my eyes. "Gaara?" I asked.

He sighed deeply. "Fine. I'll tell him so you don't reveal too much."

I hmphed. Gaara didn't say anything for a couple of minutes and I could tell he was thinking over what to say. Kenji waited expectantly.

"Believe us or not, but this is the truth. Naruto and I are... from the future. We are from a future were everything is gone and hope has run out. Because Naruto and Kyuubi have a positive relationship, they were able to work together to send us back, to give us a second chance. I will not tell you how far in the future we are from or why we came back because that will do more harm than good. But, know that we are not a threat and our goal is to protect the Elemental Continents."

Kenji listened in silence and showed no reaction when Gaara spoke. I could not tell if he believed us or not. We waited for his response.

He leaned farther back into his chair and said, "I'm not entirely sure if I believe you. However, it does not seem to be a lie. If you wanted to lie, there are much more convincing things that you could say. And, it would explain all of the things about you that don't make sense."

"Is there any evidence that we could show you to convince that we are telling the truth?" I asked.

"The only thing that I could think of would be something that will occur in the future. But, it would have to be within a reasonable amount of time..." he said.

"What is the date?" Gaara asked suddenly.

"May 23. Year 857 NE (Ninja Era)."

Woa. That really put things into perspective. Konoha would be founded in about three years. We still didn't now if we were going to deal with Madara before the founding of Konoha or after. We would need to figure that out as soon as possible.

Gaara looked pleased at the answer. I saw a blank look cross his face and I knew that he was conversing with Shukaku. He was most likely trying to find an important event around this time. He came back to focus with a slight jerk of his head. "Shukaku says that on May 26 he attacked the Southern nomadic tribe in kaze no kuni and wiped out a large portion of them. You could send a scout to see if this is true."

"It takes at least four days for an incredibly fast shinobi to reach that area. He wouldn't arrive in time for the attack to witness it," Kenji observed. At least he was taking Gaara's prediction seriously.

Gaara's gaze sharpened. "That is a good thing. You don't want any of your people anywhere near Shukaku when he attacks."

Kenji nodded. "I will send out a team to confirm your story."


	5. Waiting

The Clan Wars

Chapter 4: Waiting

I sighed with relief as I lowered myself into the hot spring. Sadly, Gaara and I had to bathe separately so I didn't get a chance to oggle him. Now, we just had to wait. We had to wait until the team of scouts that Kenji had sent out returned. I had no doubt that they would come back confirming our story. However, until then, we were still being carefully watched.

I was glad, though, that those chakra collars and the mokuton restraints had been removed. I felt so much better with access to my chakra. Within minutes of regaining access to my chakra, all of my wounds had healed and I felt refreshed. I could tell that Gaara had felt the same.

I lifted myself out of the relaxing hot spring and dried off and pulled on the provided clothing. It was a pair of tight black pants and a loose, red, kimono-like top. It was very comfy, however, it was not very good for fighting. I frowned. I would need to find some better clothing soon.

Also, I needed to restock on weapons. Much of my fighting was reliant on ninjutsu and taijutsu, but I still wanted my weapons. However, I doubted that we would be allowed to until we were fully deemed trustworthy. I could adapt but Gaara... he was mostly dependent on his sand. It worried me.

I walked into the room that we had been assigned to share. Gaara was already sitting on with bed, his legs crossed, and meditating. I frowned.

"Gaara, you should sleep," I said as I sat on my bed. I knew he was tired and he hadn't fully recovered from the negative effects of the mokuton restraints.

He opened his eyes to give me a glare. I could see the exhaustion within the depths of his teal eyes. He didn't respond.

"Gaara," I insisted, "you need to sleep. I know you don't trust them, but this might be your only opportunity to rest for a while."

I knew that he understood my reasoning, but he was incredibly paranoid. Hopefully, I could get him to relax.

"I am not used to sleeping, Naruto," he said. He seemed somewhat hesitant in explaining himself. "And, I absolutely refuse to sleep without having my sand at the very least."

It made sense. He didn't want to let his guard down, especially without his sand. It seemed like Gaara wouldn't be willing to sleep until he at the very least got his sand back.

I sighed and settled down into my bed to get a good rest. We would just have to wait.

* * *

To the best of my knowledge, we should have heard from the scout team by tomorrow. I was getting tired of waiting and my impatience made me twitch. My twitching was pissing off Gaara. I could tell. But, I couldn't help it! I was so bored. There was nothing to do around here and it felt like it had been forever since I had done anything. Maybe I could persuade someone to have a taijutsu spar with me.

I stood up ready to act upon my new plan.

"Don't do anything stupid," I heard Gaara say as I left the room. Heh. As if.

I wandered the hallways of the Uzumaki palace ignoring the various people I passed. I was looking for Tobirama. I had a hunch that out of all of our escorts he would likely be the most willing to spar with me. I think his young age might have been a part of it, but he was a lot more approachable thn the others. He seemed very different from the Nidaime Hokage that I knew he would grow up to be. War and time changes people. I would know.

I passed through the kitchen and entered the main entrance hall. I could see Hashirama lounging in a corner with Tobirama sitting on the ground next to him. They both looked just as bored as I was. Perfect.

I put on my brightest smile and bounced over to them. Hashirama looked up with suspicion and Tobirama with curiosity.

"Tobirama," I called, "Do you want to spar?"

Interest entered his eyes and he opened his mouth to respond. However, Hashirama interrupted. "You are not supposed to be using jutsu or weapons," he said. He looked annoyed. Sometimes, he reminded me of Neji Hyuuga when he still had that stick up his ass.

"Then we use only taijutsu," I said. "No jutsu, no weapons. Just taijutsu."

"Yeah, let's do it," Tobirama responded before Hashirama could interject. I smiled brightly. "I'll take you to one of the training grounds," he said.

I could tell from his manner that he was just as impatient as I. Hashirama trailed behind glowering. Yup, he definitely reminded me of Neji.

I followed his closely as he lead me to the training ground. I could feel the anticipation for a good workout, even if I couldn't use ninjutsu.

The training ground was a small area just outside of the palace and cleared of any plants. On the edge I noticed posts marked with targets. The training ground seemed kind of plain, but it would have to do.

I rushed past Tobirama and into the center of the area. I faced him and slipped into my stance. He slipped into his own. We waited.

I could see him analysing my stance and saw the confusion enter his face. I knew what he was thinking. My stance made no sense. It was completely wrong. It had too many openings and too little protection. I waited for him to attack first. He would catch on soon enough.

He charged moving incredibly fast but I would still see him easily. I weaved in and out of his attacks, luring him in with openings in my stance only to dodge them gracefully. My taijutsu was made up of several different styles all used incompletely, but flawlessly woven together. Academy style, Uchihaken, Juuken, Gamaken, and several styles all mixed together into a perfectly chaotic mess. And if I was feeling particularly wild, I would sometimes throw some suiken into the mix.

The only style that I had ever completely leaned was Gamaken while I was with the toads for my training. While I was in the academy, the instructors had doen everything within their power to impede my progress. Iruka-sensei could do only so much to help me. There was never anyone around who taught me a fighting style. Even when I was traveling with Ero-sennin, we focused mainly of jutsu and controlling my Jinchurriki chakra. So I just took the parts from different fighting styles that I knew and used tham to the best of my ability.

I prided myself at how incredibly unpredictable my style was. I was perfect for frustrating opponents as well as fighting Sharingan users.

I could see the frustration entering Tobirama's movements and knew that my style was working. He was quite skilled, but I was a kage. The title may not have any meaning yet, but to me, it still held value.

Finally, anger overcame him and he made an overexaggerated punch and left his center wide open. I took my chance and landed a solid hit on his chest and sent him flying. He landed on his back with a grunt. I slid out of my stance and grinned. I felt a lot better. Even though it was small, I work out had helped to relieve some of my boredom.

"How the hell do you fight like that?" he groaned from his position on the ground. "Your fighting style makes no sense."

I walked over to him and leaned over looking into his face. I grinned. "I know," I said. I offered no other explanation. I wanted to keep my style a secret.

Hashirama strolled over from his position at the edge of the clearing. He frowned down at Tobirama. "You should control yourself better," he admonished.

Tobirama sat up rubbing his side. "Yeah, yeah, nii-san," he said. "It was just really frustrating. He fights really weird." Tobirama stood up and stretched out his arms.

Hashirama looked at me and I could recognized approval in his eyes. He may not trust me fully, but he could see that I was skilled at taijutsu. Hell, in my time, the only two who could beat me at taijutsu were Gai and Lee. And even then, that was only after they started opening the eight gates.

But, I could also see suspicion. I was strong and we both knew it. He could tell that I was holding back. I would need to keep my guard up around Hashirama Senju. We wouldn't become the Shodaime Hokage for nothing.

* * *

I plopped down of my bed, landing face down in the thin blankets. Gaara was still meditating and ignored my entrance into the room.

The spar had helped to loosen me up and to get rid of some of my boredom. But, it also gave me a lot to think about.

Hashirama. I was unsure what to do around him. I needed him to trust me, but he was clearly suspicious. If Gaara and I had the cooperation of the Senju clan, then planning for the future would be much easier.

Sometime tomorrow, the scouts would return with news of Shukaku's rampage. A sudden thought hit me like lightning.

"Gaara?" I voiced warily. He opened his eyes and waited. He was listening. "What do you think will happen if we run into the Shukaku and Kurama of this time?" I asked.

Gaara's invisible eyebrows furrowed in concentration. "I don't know," he replied. I could tell he was just as unnerved as I. There were so many different possibilities of what could happen. Our secrets could be revealed, havoc could ensue. What would happen after we died? Would there be two Shukakus and Kuramas running around?

'_Kurama, I know you have been listening in. Do you know what would happen?_' I asked. Hopefully he would know.

**'I'm not sure what would happen, kit. With our seal I have a pretty accurate guess. Our seal has bound our very souls together and that trancends demension and time. It is likely that if we run into me counterpart, he too will be pulled into the seal,'** Kurama explain. It made sense.

'_So I'll have two of you in me?_'

**'No. Since I have more experience, I will absorb the other into myself. My chakra will increase significantly, but the seal should still hold.'**

'_What about Gaara and Shukaku?_' I asked concerned. Gaara's seal was very different from mine.

**'Unlike our seal, Gaara and Shukaku's souls are not bound together. His seal is tied into restraining Shukaku's chakra, not his soul. I have no idea what could happen. Shukaku could be pulled into the seal, and in that case it would need to be reinforced. Or, nothing at all could happen.'**

'_Well that's reassuring,_' I stated dryly.

Gaara was staring at me impatiently. I knew that I had spaced out to talk to Kurama and he wanted answers. I explained Kurama's theories and watched Gaara's impassive face for any reaction. I saw no change, but I thought that I saw a flash of worry in his eyes.

"We should do our best to avoid them," Gaara said. "At the very least, for now."

"Yeah," I agreed. We had much to plan for and we needed to get started. "So any plans for the future?" I asked, changing the subject.

Gaara showed no surprise at me abrupt subject change. He had long ago accepted that we couldn't follow me thought patterns. He just went with it.

"We need to deal with Madara. But if we change things to drastically, then we will no longer be able to predict anything."

I nodded. I laced me fingers behind my head and leaned into my bed more comfortably. "We should wait until after the hidden villages are established. But, how long do we wait?" I wondered. We couldn't miss our opportunity. So much could go wrong.

"We need to kill him before he disappears for several decades," Gaara said.

"Like when he defected from Konoha?" I asked. I frowned pensively. That could be a problem. "That could result in us running into Kurama," I said.

"Well it is either then, or when he resurfaced to attack Konoha with Kurama under his control. What year did Madara defect in?" he asked.

"Two years after Konoha was established in 862 NE. I don't know what month, but I think it was in the fall season," I replied. He had about five years to prepare. We had to make sure that we were in the right position to save our futures.


	6. Omake: Together

The Clan Wars

OMAKE

I shifted in my bed and blinked, my bleary eyes and the dark preventing me from seeing anything properly. It was still the middle of the night and I had no idea why I was awake. Something felt off.

I buried my face back into my pillow and I took a deep breath allowing the scents of the room to flood by senses. I jerked upwards as I realized what was wrong. Gaara wasn't in the room.

Even though he refused to sleep, he still stayed in the room and meditated. His warm, dry scent was much fainter than usual. He had probably been gone for some time.

I tiredly slid out of bed and moved my way toward the door. I was glad that I was still dressed. I didn't think I was awake enough to have the fine motor skills necessary for dressing. I yawned as I exited the room.

Despite my sleepy state, I remained alert as I padded along the halls of the Uzumaki Palace. We weren't restricted to our rooms, but I would rather avoid any sort of confrontation.

I extended my senses outwards, searching for Gaara's chakra signature. I may not be a sensor, but Jinchuuriki had a unique chakra signal. And with the assistance of Kurama, I would always be able to find Gaara.

I felt his signature above me and I determined that he was on the roof. I changed direction and headed out through a door and outside. I was greeted by a moonlit garden and I glanced upwards towards the night sky. There was a full moon and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

I looked towards the roof and I could see Gaara's silhouette. With little effort, I jumped onto the roof and approached Gaara. Without a word, I sat down next to him and joined him in staring at the moon.

I glanced at him briefly and I saw so much emotion swirling in his eyes. I saw grief, longing, pain, and hope. I could see none of this on his face, but I could see it clearly in his eyes.

I knew that Gaara had lived just as difficult of a life as myself. In some ways it was worse, and in others it was better. I knew that he missed his siblings and his people and he blamed himself for not being able to protect them. But, we had a second chance. We could fix this and save out futures.

I leaned back on the roof. I don't know how long we laid there, but I felt no need to leave.

"You miss them."

I had not expected Gaara to speak, but he had. I knew that he wasn't just speaking about me, but was also speaking for himself.

"Yeah. I do. A lot. Sometimes I wonder if I could have done more. Sometimes I wonder if I should have just died with them. But then I remember how happy we used to be and I realize that I want to create a world like that for them. And this time, it won't be destroyed. This time, they will live and be happy."

I could see the effect my words had on Gaara, and I knew he agreed. But, that didn't stop us from missing them. I decided to keep speaking. "Also, I know that I'm not alone," I said looking at me. I could see his eyes intently trained on me. I grinned. "We can do this. Together."

I saw a light flash in Gaara's eyes and the edge of his mouth quirked upwards slightly. This was his way of smiling and I knew he was pleased. We both understood each other like no one else could. Partly because of the circumstances, and partly because of our pasts.

We stayed sitting on the roof for what felt like hours and we watched the sun rise on a new day.

* * *

I watched Naruto as he sat next to me on the moonlit roof. I listened to him speak, his usual dramatics dulled with sleep. His words reassured me that there was hope for the future. I watched intently as the light in his eyes grew.

Then, he smiled brightly and said, "Also, I know that I'm not alone. We can do this. Together."

I felt and indescribable warmth flow through me and I felt the sudden urge to smile. The edge of my lip quirked upward and I saw the understanding in his eyes grown. Naruto was here for me. We were here for each other.

I felt something grow within me at this conclusion. I did not know what it was, but I knew it felt good. And I knew, that I would do whatever necessary to keep feeling this way and to stay with Naruto. We would suceed. Together.


	7. Clouds and Sleeping

The Clan Wars

Chapter 5: Clouds and Sleeping

Once again I was wondering aimlessly throughout the halls of the Uzumaki palace with nothing to do. Hashirama and Mito had been dispatched to greet the team that had been sent to Kaze no Kuni. They were meeting them down by the port on the shore of Uzu no Kuni and bringing them back to the palace.

Since the team was sent out to confirm our story- not that anyone aside from Kenji Uzumaki, Gaara and I knew the story- it was understood that we would remain in the palace. Unfortunately, the palace was boring me to death and Tobirama was my baby sitter preventing me from doing anything drastic in order to cure my boredom.

There was something I did not understand about Tobirama. He was my age, yet he was still incredibly young and naïve. It was refreshing, but he was nothing like the Hokage that I had heard about. The history books and lessons in the academy always described how unrelenting and powerful he had been. He was dedicated to Konoha and incredibly powerful. What had transformed this boy into the famous Nidaime Hokage?

Gaara was in our room, meditating once again. The sooner the team confirmed our story the better. Then, Gaara could rebuild his ultimate defense and get some sleep.

I wandered into the entrance hall to see a slight commotion. The guards were not at their posts but instead hovering around a group that had just walked in.

I saw Mito and Hashirama amongst the group. It must have the scouts. They had returned. It was about time.

I shifted at the sound of a door opening to the left of me to see Kenji Uzumaki enter the room and head directly towards the group.

He approached the group and what I could only assume to be the captain of the squad stepped forward.

"Uzumaki-sama," he began, "we have news to report."

Kenji nodded and motioned for the squad to follow him. He turned toward me and gave me a nod indicating his intent. I nodded in return and turned to leave.

I headed straight for my room to fetch Gaara. I rushed in to see him still in his meditation position. He slowly opened his eyes allowing me to see his teal gaze. He lifted a single, invisibly eyebrow in question.

"The team is back," I informed him. "Kenji wants us."

He was by my side in a flash and we made our way towards to room where we had first met Kenji. We made our way into the small side room to see the team before Kenji who was lounging in his comfortable chair.

The squad gave no reaction as we entered, acting the part of perfect shinobi.

"Captain Shiki, report," Kenji commanded. He leaned forward with interest to listen to the report.

"Uzumaki-sama, we investigated the Southern lands of Kaze no Kuni as instructed and we came upon the remains of an attack. The Southern Nomads have been decimated leaving very few survivors.

"When questioning the cause of the damage the nomads told of a giant suna no tanuki which attacked them. Uzumaki-sama, all evidence and reports indicate that it was Ichibi no Shukaku who attacked."

"Is that all, Shiki?" Kenji asked.

"Hai, Uzumaki-sama."

"Very well. You and your team are dismissed."

With a swish the team disappeared. Gaara and I were hovering in the corner of the room. I could see a triumphant gleam in Gaara's eyes and I had a wide smile on my face. We had just proven our story.

Kenji folded his hands in front of him and directed his gaze towards us. "It appears that your story has been confirmed," he stated. "It may be unbelievable, but it is true. However, I am not sure whether to be glad or worried," he mused.

I understood exactly what he was thinking. He was glad because Gaara and I could prevent the future from becoming as bad as it was for us. But, he was worried because so much had gone wrong in the future. He understood it truly must have been a nightmare for us to have gone to such lengths to come back.

"We plan on doing everything we can," I stated to reassure him.

"And you still cannot reveal your plans?" he asked. I knew he was curious. Who wouldn't be? To know your future and the future of your country would be beneficial. I, however, had no intention of revealing anything.

"No, we cannot," Gaara said from beside me. "It could change too much Although, it would be beneficial to have your support."

Kenji nodded. "Very well. I will begin by letting the Senju know that you are perfectly trustworthy. Do not worry. I will convince them. However, I must know, do you plan on revealing that you are Jinchuuriki?"

"No," Gaara and I said at the same time. We did not shout it or say it aggressively, but it was clear that we would not reveal this unless necessary.

"It would make them wary of us," I explained. "Also, it would be difficult to explain the extra bijuu roaming around. We will only reveal it if absolutely necessary."

Kenji nodded in understanding. "I must caution you, however, to be careful around Hashirama. I am sure you know of the unique abilities of his mokuton?"

We nodded. "We should be able to stop him from being too suspicious for a while. Naruto and I do not rely heavily on the chakra of our tenants," Gaara said.

Kenji sighed and he suddenly looked like the old man that he was. "I will speak with the Senju brothers and Mito-chan. Be prepared to meet with them tomorrow. I suspect that Hashirama will want to return to Senju land as soon as possible."

I nodded, smiling. I grabbed Gaara's forearm and dragged him out of the room. "Thanks, Kenji-jiji!" I shouted over my shoulder. I heard his deep chuckle of amusement as I exited the room.

I didn't let go of Gaara and continued to drag him behind me. He didn't resist and I saw slight confusion on his face. However, he trusted me so he let me lead him.

I led him outside and past the training ground where I had fought Tobirama yesterday. I sped up and shifted my hand from his forearm down to his hand to keep leading him.

I pushed chakra into my legs and we sped towards our destination. We quickly reached the edge of the island and we stopped at the beach.

I saw Gaara's eyes light up in understanding and joy as we arrived at the beach. I let go of his hand and he crouched down placing a hand on the sand. He closed his eyes in concentration and went completely still.

My hand that had held Gaara's tingled. Gaara's hands had been surprisingly warm since he did not have his sand armour on. I can't believe I held his hand! I had done it without even thinking about it. At least Gaara didn't seem to mind. He didn't look at me weird or pull his hand away in disgust. I was on a roll!

After several minutes of staying completely still, Gaara's eyes opened. A small smile crossed his lips in a flash before it was gone. Had Gaara just smiled? He must have really missed his sand.

A small stream of sand lifted from the beach. There was no doubt that it was infused with Gaara's chakra. It whirled around him the various grains settling onto different parts of his body. He let out a sigh of relief and some of the tension disappeared from his stance. Gaara really had felt uncomfortable without his sand to protect him. I was glad that he had it back. I bet that even Shukaku was glad to have his vessel guarded once again.

He shifted and settled down into a sitting position. He crossed his legs and placed his hands down on either side of him with his palms placed flat on top of the sand. His eyes closed once again in concentration.

This was going to take a while. Gaara had a lot of sand that he needed to infuse with his chakra. I walked away a couple of meters and sat down on the soft, cool sand. I laid back and stared at the sky above me. There was a smattering of clouds and I looked at them trying to find shapes.

After I had become Hokage, I began to suffer from the overwhelming stress of my position. I was working constantly, I rarely saw my friends except when assigning missions, and was incredibly ramen deprived. It was not a pretty picture and I was dealing with it well. I was only sixteen when I took the position and I wa not very good at coping with stress.

After a couple of weeks of dealing with me, the various members of the Konoha 12 had held a meeting without me to find a solution. Apparently, the had nominated Shikamaru to fix me and make me tolerable.

So, amidst muttering of 'troublesome', Shikamaru had forcefully dragged me out of Hokage tower and onto the top of the Hokage monument. He had dragged me to the ground directly behind the spikes of the Yondaime Hokage and had told me to 'stop being to troublesome' because it was 'driving everyone insane.' Shikamaru had laid down on the ground next to me and proceeded to watch the clouds and forced me to to the same.

After that incident, watching clouds with Shikamaru became one of my favorite pass times. Shikamaru and I would disappear at least once a week and go watch the clouds. We would talk, discuss strategy, give each other advice, and just relax. It did wonders for my composure.

Shikamaru would help me with my worries about Gaara and the difficulties of being Hokage and in turn I would help him with his issues with Temari, or as Shikamaru called her, the 'troublesome woman.'

Now that I think about it, Shikamaru was the only one who knew about my feelings for Gaara. He had dubbed the situation 'troublesome' almost immediately, but had helped me nonetheless.

I sighed. I really missed my village and my friends.

* * *

It had taken several hours for Gaara to acquire enough sand for his jutsu. We reentered the Uzumaki Palace in the early evening. Gaara had his gourd of sand strapped to his back and a pleased look in his eyes.

As we were walking towards our room, we were cornered by Mito. "Where have you guys been?" she demanded. I was somewhat taken aback by her aggressive questioning. I wondered what had put her in such a bad mood.

"Out," Gaara responded.

An annoyed look crossed Mito's face. My guess was she didn't like short and vague answers. Well, that was Gaara for you. Short, vague, and so incredibly blunt that it sometimes made people cry. Sometimes, it was actually kind of funny.

"Obviously. We have been looking for you to discuss plans for tomorrow. And, what is that?" she asked gesturing towards Gaara's gourd.

"Sand," Gaara stated as if it should be obvious. It was.

I had to stiffle my laughter. Now, Gaara was just messing with her. He could tell she had an impatient personality and he was using it to entertain himself. It was a habit of his to annoy important political figures in subtle ways. I had seen it many times before when in meetings with Gaara. His favorites to pick on were the Raikage and, unfortunately, I. It was nice to see someone else on the receiving end.

The frustration on Mito's face was replaced with exasperation. "Let's just go find Hashirama and Tobirama," she said.

I glanced at Gaara and I could see the exhaustion clear in his eyes. He would be able to make it through a meeting, but I didn't want to chance it.

"Mito," I called catching her attention before she got too far. "Will meet with you guys in the morning."

I didn't wait for her response and I grabbed Gaara's hand and pulled him down the hallway towards out room.

We entered out room and I let go of Gaara's hand. "Sleep," I commanded.

He rolled his eyes, but obeyed. He removed his gourd and settled into his bed, pulling the thin sheets over his frame.

Despite having not done very much that day, I was very tired. So, I too laid down in my bed and buried myself under the covers.

I glanced over at Gaara to say good night, only to see him already fast asleep. I smiled to myself before closing my eyes and drifting off into sleep.


	8. Preparations

The Clan Wars

Chapter 6: Preparations

We were in one of the many meeting rooms within the Uzumaki Palace. Mito, Tobirama, Haqshirama, Gaara, and I were sitting around a medium sized table.

After a good night of rest, Gaara looked a lot better. Sleep combined with having his sand back had put him in a very good mood.

"We want to leave this evening," Hashirama began. So far there had been no questions or accusations towards us. they were weary, but trusting us. Whatever Kenji had said to them had convinced them that we were trustworthy.

"That is fine," I said. "However, I need to prepare some equipment first. Also, Gaara and I need more... Appropriate clothing." I glanced down at my clothing and lightly tugged on my shirt. I was still wearing the simple clothing that I had originally been provided with. Civilian clothing. It would do me no good in a fight.

Hashirama nodded. "Prepare whatever is necessary. Meet us at the port at sundown."

We nodded to acknowledge that we had heard and quickly exited the room. That had gone a lot better that I had thought it would. It was kind of a relief.

Earlier that morning I had collected the supplies that I needed from Kenji. Kunai, shuriken, ninja wire, explosive tags, ink, scrolls, and pouches among other things. It was nice to have weapons again.

I settled down on my bed, crossing my legs. I pulled out a scroll in which I had packed full with my custom made kunai. Surprisingly, it had not been that difficult to procure my custom made weapons. I suspected Kenji had somehow influenced this. However it had happened, I was grateful that I would not need to wait several days to be properly equipped.

I pulled out a small ink brush, a small container of ink, and several small strips of paper that size of explosive tags. I bit my thumb and let my blood trickle into the container of ink. Using the brush, I thoroughly mixed it and began to draw a seal upon the pieces of paper.

The seal was deceptively simple. To someone not experienced in Fuuinjutsu, it didn't look like much. However, the neat lines and characters mixed with my blood gave this particular jutsu immense power. I had only mastered this particular jutsu very recently after much research and experimentation on my part. After all, Hiraishin no Jutsu was not something that could be mastered by just anyone.

My largest breakthrough had come when I had finally figured out that Hiraishin wasn't just a space-time ninjutsu; it was so much more. Space-time ninjutsu are incredibly difficult to not only execute, but comprehend. However, the layers of Hiraishin made that space-time aspects seem almost simple in comparison. There was a reason that no one could use Hiraishin through my father's old tags and kunai. I had to create a whole new seal design for myself in order to get Hiraishin to work.

The simplest part was the summoning aspect, but that was still incredibly difficult. Summoning jutsu and contracts were some of the most commonly used space-time ninjutsu aside from storage seals and scrolls. I had to not only create a summoning contract for myself in my own blood, but I had to make it so that I could perform it without seals or need to draw blood. Having it directly keyed into my chakra helped to solve this problem somewhat, but there was still many other layers that I had to part had taken a lot of help from the old toad, Fukasaku. The toads had been a really big help in figuring out the intricacies of summoning jutsu. Sadly, that was the easy part in the scheme of things.

The next part had shown the true extent of my father's genius. He had incorporated his own nature chakra into the jutsu. Luckily, my father and I shared the same chakra nature: wind. However, unfortunately, my chakra, in general, was very different than that of a normal shinobi. The Uzumaki blood running through my veins had given me unusual chakra. My chakra was strong, uncontrollable wilds, and always moving. This is what gave me such shitty chakra control. And then adding the fact that I was a Jinchuuriki; my chakra was screwed up. The only reason that I had any sort of basic control was the seal on my stomach. Also, Kurama helped a lot. Once we had started working together, my chakra control had improved significantly.

With the nature component incorporated into Hiraishin, I was unsure if it would work for anyone who wasn't of wind nature. I suppose I was lucky in that aspect. From my research, the only other possibly chakra nature that could work with the Hiraishin was lightning. and there was no way I was going to be experimenting with that particular element anytime soon,. I had no desire to be shocked. Lightning and I didn't mix very well.

And so, I began to incorporate my wind chakra into the Hiraishin. It was a lot of work. It was so much more difficult than creating Fuuton: Rasenshuriken. Eventually, however, I had been successful and became the second person in history t be able to use Hiraishin no jutsu. However... now that I was back in time, was I the first? Ugh. Time travel hurt my head.

I carefully channeled my chakra into the tags as I wrapped them around the handles of my triple-pronged kunai. It was going to take a couple of hours, but eventually I would completely be rearmed.

* * *

"No."

I looked up from the shirt I was holding in my hands to See Gaara's impassive face.

"What?" I asked, confused.

His teal eyes narrowed and they focused on the shirt in my hands.

"It's orange," he commented disdainfully.

"Yeah, so?" I questioned. It wasn't like I couldn't be stealthy with orange clothing on. I had been able to successfully avoid ANBU in kill-me-orange jumpsuits by the time I was eight. Plus, one couldn't argue about my clothing issues anymore. I had really toned it down from my Genin days.

"No," he repeated. "you can wear some orange, but not that much."

"Gaara," I whined, pouting, "It's just one shirt-"

"I will not have you wearing that blinding color any longer."

I sighed heavily. I suppose I could see what he was going for. How could anyone who wore bright orange be taken seriously. It was a great tactic against enemies... but I was skilled enough to the point where it didn't really matter anymore whether I had surprise on my side or people just didn't get it! Orange was awesome! Plus, I could safely say my stealth wasn't hampered by the bright color in the least.

I reluctantly set down the orange shirt and grabbed a dark blue, sleeveless one. I added it to my small pile in my arms. Black pants and boots, ninja tape... just some of the basics.

I wandered over to the checkout counter but stopped as a flash of orange entered the corner of my vision. I walked over to see a pair of finger-less, dark orange gloves with metal backings. Perfect. There was no way Gaara could complain about this. I picked up the gloves and showed them to him.

"Please?" I asked.

The corner of his lips twitched upwards in amusement and he rolled his eyes. "Fine," he relented.

"Yeah!" I cheered and I continued my way towards the checkout counter with Gaara following close behind.

Gaara and I set our stuff on the counter before the owner of the small store. He was a plain man with brown hair and eyes and he calculated the cost with a warm smile on his face. I paid using some money that Kenji had given us and we grabbed our purchases and exited the store.

Gaara had purchased much the same that I had. However, his shirt was a deep red and he had also gotten a sturdy leather strap to connect to his newly created gourd.

I couldn't wait to see Gaara in his new outfit. Especially since his shirt was sleeveless much like mine. I was practically drooling in my mind at the image.

Sometimes I wondered if I was a pervert. and then, I would marvel at the ridiculous nature of my question. After all the legendary pervert Jiraiya had been my teacher. You don't live through that and not become a pervert. It wasn't possible. There was no doubt about it. So, was I a pervert? Of course I was.


	9. Stirring up the Flames

The Clan Wars

**Warning: Graphic descriptions of death and hints of torture in this chapter.**

Chapter 7: Stirring up the Flames

I sighed in relief as I stepped off the ship and into Port Suizan. I still couldn't stand the rocking motions of the boat and the sickness that accompanied it. I hated boats.

Gaara and I walked side by side with Tobirama and Hashirama flanking either side of us. Mito led the way, her clearly dark and disgruntled aura keeping up at bay. We cowered somewhat in her wake. I said somewhat because I don't think it is even possible for Gaara to cower. I, on the other hand, had grown up surrounded by headstrong women and knew what was best for me survival. So, I safely angled my body behind Gaara's. Tsunade, Sakura, Tenten, Temari, Anko... What was one more? Tobirama, however, was not coping well. He stared at Mito's angry form apprehensively. Hashirama seemed more wary than afraid. He had much less to fear being her fiance.

"That bastard-ugh!" Mito ranted, her anger not allowing her to articulate her frustrations properly. She aggressively trudged her way through the small port side town with a kunai spinning on her finger. I could imagine exactly what she wanted to do with it.

"I think he learned his lesson, Mito-chan," Hashirama tried to sooth. Tried being the key word. He failed miserably.

Mito whirled on him her eyes flashing Tobirama whimpered and hid himself behind me and Gaara. I edged away to get out of range of Mito's kunai. I knew the dangers of an Uzumaki temper and I had no desire to be maimed. "And you? You're my fiance and you just let that dirty sailor hit on me!" she exclaimed focusing her hard gaze on Hashirama. "You better have a good explanation!"

"He was the captain and he couldn't steer the ship if I killed him?" Hashirama's answer came out as more of a question that a statement. I could see the panic in his eyes that his answer wouldn't satisfy her.

"And you didn't see fit to warn him?" Mito asked her tone dangerous.

Hashirama put his hands up in a placating manner and said, "Hey, I did warn him, but he was very drunk and there was no reasoning with him."

Mito didn't respond and turned around to once again march through the small port town.

The town surrounding Port Suizan was incredibly small since it contained just supplies and places for travelers and sailors to stay. The port was deep within Takezashi territory making it difficult to access it not allied with the Takezashi nobles.

The Takezashi nobles were closely related to the daimou giving them enough wealth and power to be able to hire their own shinobi as protection and various missions. For the most part, they hired whoever was convenient or closely allied to them. The Senju had set up an alliance with them to have easy passage through the land. It was especially important because Takezashi owned Port Suizan which had the best access to Uzu no Kuni as well as Mizu no Kuni. Therefore, in order for the Senju to uphold their alliance and close connects with the Uzumaki royals, it was essential to be allied with the Takezashi.

As we walked through the town, Hashirama explained the important political and economics role that the Takezashi clan had and its role within Hi no Kuni. Apparently, shortly after the Senju created an alliance with the nobles of the Takezashi clan, other prominent and powerful shinobi clan began to follow suit. Eventually, all in Hi no Kuni had some sort of alliance or agreement with the Takezashi. Even the Uchiha.

Takezashi land almost acted as a free zone in which all of the shinobi clans could pass through without being attacked. There was a strict no hostility rule. But, that didn't mean that the Uchiha and the Senju still didn't do their best to avoid each other. That was just common sense. Better safe than sorry.

Aside from access to Port Suizan, Takezashi was incredibly abundant in natural resources making it a center of trade and commerce. Its especially large iron ore deposits allowed for it to be one of the top producers and sellers of basic weaponry. It you had a kunai, it was made in Takezashi.

We quickly exited the port town and began making our way back towards Senju territory. Mito set a vigorous pace with her Uzumaki stamina and residual annoyance fueling her. As we traveled further and further and further I could see the tension leaving Mito. Wow. She cooled down pretty quickly. That was unexpected. I knew that I couldn't calm down that quickly.

Gaara and I traveled next to each other our stamina allowing us to easily keep pace with Mito. It was amazing how much easier it was to travel without chakra collars and mokuton restraints on. Gaara watched Mito with great amusement.

"She reminds me of you," he commented.

I glanced at him and raised an eyebrow in questions. "How so?"

"Temper-mental, loud, and blunt."

My eye twitched with annoyance. The amused glint never left his eyes. If anything, he looked even more entertained by my reaction. He took a deep breath and continued. "Also, she is full of life and fiercely loyal. You both are." His lips turned upwards in a small smile before he turned away and sped ahead.

He smiled! I felt a huge grin spread across my face at this. And man, did he looked so hot when he smiled! Internally, I cheered.

* * *

It was nearing late afternoon and I suspected that we would set up camp soon. We rushed through the tall grasses of the plain in the center of Takezashi territory. Mito and Hashirama traveled at the front very close together whispering softly. With my Jinchuuriki enhanced senses I could easily listen in on their conversation, but I chose not to. After hearing the first couple of words I could tell that it was a very private conversation and I blocked it out. I felt a light blush spread across my cheeks at the few words I did hear. Gaara smirked at my reaction and I glared. He showed no reaction as if he hadn't heard it, yet I know he had. Him and his stupid, perfect control over his reactions.

I took a deep breath and let the natural smells of the plants and animals flood my senses. I could smell rabbit nearby and knew that when we stopped that we would be able to find a delicious dinner.

The wind abruptly shifted and a new scent slammed into Gaara and I overwhelming our senses. We both skidded to an abrupt halt catching the attention of the others traveling with us.

"Naruto," Gaara stated a grim look on his face.

"I know." I took another deep breath to pinpoint the exact location of the scent.

"What is it?" Hashirama asked warily.

"The scent of fire and blood," I stated grimly.

"Lots of blood. And death," Gaara added.

"Where?" Mito demanded.

I pointed in the direction from where the scent was coming from. Without the wind blowing directly in our faces it was very faint. If that blast of wind had not carried the scent, then I would not have noticed it at all.

Hashirama and Tobirama's eyes widened. "But that's-" Tobirama stuttered.

Mito shot a questioning glance at her fiance.

Hashirama's face was grave. "That's where the Takezashi clan compound is located."

Mito's eyes widened. Gaara and I watched and waited for what they wanted to do.

"We should go investigate. They are our allies," Tobirama suggested.

Hashirama nodded. "Very well. But, don't do anything unless I give the go ahead," he warned. "Naruto," he continued, addressing me, "take the lead and let us know if you smell anything. Gaara, take the rear and let me know if you smell anything as well. Mito, center. Tobirama, right flank. I'll take left. Be on guard. We have no idea if it is an attack or not."

We nodded and set off in the direction of the Takezashi compound in formation. I had the feeling that Hashirama had an accurate idea of what exactly had happened. I could tell that he was lying when he said that it might not be an attack. I was very sure that he knew that it was an attack. In fact, he probably even knew who was attacking.

We cautiously approached the compound keeping out of sight as well as watching for danger. I could see a small cloud of smoke curling into the sky. I took another deep breath and wrinkled my nose at the smell of death permeating the area. I slowed and ducked into a small grove of trees where we stopped.

"I didn't smell anything alive over there," I commented. "From the way the remains of the compound were smoking and the smell of death, I would say that the attack happened about two days ago." Gaara nodded in agreement with my assessment.

"An you are sure you didn't smell anyone else hidden within the remains?" Hashirama asked.

"Yes, but here are any number of jutsu that can be used by others to hide their scent," Gaara stated.

"Like genjutsu?" Tobirama asked.

"In this case, no. I may not be any good at making genjutsu, but it is very difficult for them to be trapped in them," I responded. As far as I was aware, I could only be caught in ocular jutsu such as the sharingan or the rinnegan. And since there was no one around with the rinnegan and I could effectively fight against the Uchiha, I was safe from genjutsu.

"Let's go investigate," Hashirama decided. "We need to find out if everyone was killed or if some made it out alive."

We nodded in agreement and set off towards that ruined Takezashi compound. We approached the remains cautiously and alert for any attacks. Once we entered the compound, the scent of death, blood, and fire hit me with full force. I wrinkled my nose with distaste and glanced over at Gaara to see that he was doing the same. We drew closer together at we traveled through the remains.

Dead bodies lay strewn everywhere, many of them burned to a crisp. Men, women, children; shinobi and civilian alike. Blood was splattered everywhere, covering the crumbling buildings and leaving dried up circles on the ground indicated what were once puddles of blood. Some of the larger buildings were still smoking lightly, turning the air gray and thick. In the center of the town were three men strung out on ropes by their hands and hanging above the main plaza. Their heads were decapitated and on stakes stuck into the ground. Their entrails hung from gashes in their mid sections with the remains rotting. They were not burned, but they were covered from neck to cut with gashes. So much blood had fallen from the bodies that they puddle of blood had not yet been absorbed by the ground. Gaara and I covered our noses with our sleeves at the stench permeating the air.

"The Takezashi clan head and his sons," Hashirama said. He approached the bodies and knelt down on the ground to observe a pile of ashes on the ground. He knelt down to get a closer look and his head suddenly jerked upwards. He glanced around looking for something. "I recognize this jutsu," he muttered. He pushed his way over to the stakes contain the heads of the Takezashi nobles. He bent down and examined the piece of wood.

"Fuck!" he cursed. "Uchiha!" he said. The name sounded much like the curse he had just exclaimed.


	10. Mine

The Clan Wars

**Warning: Depictions of death and minor boyxboy. Don't like then don't read.**

Chapter 8: Mine

_I was covered in blood, but that was the least of my worries. I was surrounded by the suffocating smell of death mixed with the scent of ashes. The sky was dark, reflecting the ominous scene before me._

_Sakura. Sprawled on the ground with a gaping hole in her stomach as she tried to heal it with her little remaining chakra. Trying and seeped out of the corner of her mouth as her labored breathing became more and more shallow. Her bright green eyes became dull and her eyes fluttered shut with one final raspy breath. Dead. The woman I considered my sister was gone._

_Kakashi. He was pinned to the ground by the mokuton roots that were an integral part of Obito's body. A large tendril of wood had been shoved through his heart. He had been killed by his best friend. My sensei, my role model was dead._

_Others lay sprawled around me either dead or dying._

_Obito and Madara were rapidly approaching. Our exchanging of blows seemed to be never ending. I faltered as Madara attacked me from behind and grabbed at me, restraining my movements. I struggled as Obito dived for the opening that Madara had created. Deadly roots stretched out to pierce my heart and my eyes closed in preparation for the blow. There was no way that I could avoid it._

_My eyes snapped open as I heard a gasp of pain to see that someone had taken the blow for me. to the heart. Blood dripped from his mouth as his lips turned upwards in a faint smile. He took one last shuddering breath and his eyes slid shut. I howled in pain, rage, shock, and grief for my lost brother._

_"Sasuke!"_

* * *

I sat up with a gasp from my makeshift bed. I blinked rapidly to clear the tears that had gathered at the corners of my eyes. I ignored Gaara's look of concern and roughly pushed my way out from under my thin blanket.

Mito watched from her position in silence as I wove my way around the sleeping forms of the Senju brothers.

I heard a rustle behind me a I made my way through the tall grasses without a sound. I found a clear area and sat down with a rough sigh of exhaustion.

Gaara silently followed me and sat beside me, placing his gourd on the ground next to him. He looked at me, silently asking if I was all right. I shrugged and gave a half-hearted smile. "It was just a nightmare," I muttered. "I just need to clear my head."

He just nodded in response and we sat in silence. I stared upwards at the waning moon thinking of my dream. In a way, it wasn't just a dream. It was a mish-mash of memories from the last couple months all formed together into one terrible nightmare.

Sakura had been one of the first casualties in my war against Madara, Obito, and Akatsuki. She had died trying to heal everyone who was injured and let her guard down for one second. Kakashi had died shortly after I had been appointed Rokudaime Hokage and if it weren't for my duty to my village, I likely would have been crippled with grief.

Sasuke's death was the most recent and had hit me the hardest. It was mainly because of the confusion surrounding his sacrifice. Why had he jumped in the way? I thought that he had hated me. He had left me. He no longer considered me a brother. He had put so much effort into destroying my life and destroying Konoha that I had given up hope of him ever returning to the village. I had thought that there was no hope left for him. But, he had saved me. Why?

The Takezashi compound remains had a greater effect on me that I had anticipated. The sight... the smells... It all reminded me too much of the destruction of Konoha. My failure as Hokage haunted my thoughts, and now my dreams.

"You were muttering in your sleep," Gaara began, "about Sakura and Sasuke. What were they to you?" His teal eyes bore heavily into mine.

I sensed that his question had great significance to him and that he needed it to be answered. Not only for him to make sense of things, but for me to make sense of my entangled thoughts and feelings.

"They were some of my most precious people," I said. "They were like my brother and sister."

"When Sunagakure was destroyed, I lost two of my most precious people. Temari and Kankuro." I could see the pain in his eyes at the memory. Before he had become Kazekage, they had been his only support. He took a deep breath and continued. "I've only really had four people that I have considered precious to me. My village was certainly important to me and I would give my life to protect it and the people within it, but I would do absolutely anything for my four precious people.

"You taught me the value of having someone to protect and I took the lesson to heart and decided to become Kazekage. You were my first precious person, and now you are the only one that I have left. In many ways, you have always been the most important one."

It pleased me to know that Gaara cared for me so greatly. "And your fourth precious person?" I asked, curious as to who could have earned Gaara's trust.

His eyes glimmered with happy memories. "Matsuri," he responded.

I felt a stab of jealously, but I did not let it show. Who was this woman? "And what was she to you?" I asked.

"My first and only student. She was like a little sister to me."

I felt a rushed of relief at Gaara's response. Just a student. Not competition. Good.

We continued to sit next to each other in silence. I didn't want to return to my thoughts on my memories and my nightmares. I looked for something interesting to ask Gaara. I need something distracting. Anything.

He sat next to me and our legs were straight out in front of us, barely touching. He, like I, was leaning back on his hands for support.

"Let me see your hand," I requested. There was something nagging at me and I needed to fulfill my curiosity and it was the perfect distraction. He raised a non-existent eyebrow but acquiesced. I felt him place his hand in mine.

"It's warm," I observed.

"Did you expect it to be anything but?"

"Well, being covered in sand, I expected it to be cool in temperature."

"My chakra is circulating constantly through my sand, giving it a warm temperature," he explained.

It made sense, especially since the chakra circulating through his sand was tinged with Shukaku's demonic chakra. Demonic chakra was significantly warmer than human chakra. In large concentrations is could very easily burn.

"It is also not as rough as I expected. You know, for sand." It didn't feel like normal skin for it was too rough for that. However, the grainy texture wasn't uncomfortable. In fact, I rather liked it.

"My chakra has been integrated so thoroughly that that sand is rather uniform to the point where it doesn't feel so rough."

I continued to examine his hand and feel the warm, rough texture. I scooted closer to him and pulled his hand further into my lap. Gaara leaned into me instead of shying away which pleased me. I knew that he was not used to physical contact. I realized that there were very few who could have ever been in this position. Gaara rarely ever allowed anyone this close to him whether they were friend or foe.

Despite my attempts to distract myself, my thought returned full force, swirling in a chaotic and confusing manner.

"I think that you're the only one who can truly ever understand me," I told him, still staring at his hand and holding onto it as if it were a lifeline. "I mean, Sakura and the other Konoha 12 tried, but they never truly understood me. They had no idea of the pain and suffering that a Jinchuuriki goes through during their life. The hate, the neglect..."

The memories swirled through my mind. The glares, the beatings... The neglect. Sometimes, it was worse to be ignored by everyone. At least when they had hated me and turned the full force of their disdain on me, they had acknowledged me existence. But when they absolutely ignored me... It's a wonder I didn't go insane during my childhood. Before I had joined the academy, I had had practically no contact with the village. I had been stowed away in a room within the Konoha Orphanage.

I could see why Gaara had lost it as a child...

I took a deep breathe before continuing. "Even Killer B didn't quite understand. Jinchuuriki were treated very differently in Kumogakure. They were still viewed as weapons and still suffered from the hate within their village, but they were also respected, especially by their fellow shinobi. B's position as the brother of the Raikage only further reinforced this."

I remembered the first time that I had visited Kumogakure. The reactions of the other shinobi and even-to a certain extent-that of the villagers was much more respectful. They knew what I was, yet did not outright hate me.

"It's nice how you don't expect me to be perpetually happy. And, you are one of the few who see me as not a monster .. but as a person."

I hadn't looked up from Gaara's hand the whole time I had spoken. A light blush spread across my face in embarrassment Man! I had sounded like a total girl!

"Naruto." Gaara's voice sounded a lot rougher than usual.

I looked up to see him much closer than I had expected, his teal eyes staring at me intently. An emotion that I could not identify flashed through his eyes. My blush returned full force as he leaned closer and closer until finally his lips met mine.

His lips were so much softer than I expected. I didn't know why I expected everything about Gaara to be rough like sand. I felt a soft tugging sensation as Gaara lightly bit my bottom lip asking or entrance. I complied by opening my mouth with a sigh as his tongue entered.

I let out a groan as his tongue swirled with mine and I felt a warmth pooling in my abdomen. He leaned over me and pushed me down onto the soft meadow grass.

We parted with our breaths heavy. Gaara leaned forward once again to reclaim my lips, but I put my hand on his chest to keep him from leaning further in. I saw confusion swirl in his eyes but I smiled in return.

"What does this mean?" I asked. A teasing light entered my eyes as I echoed his earlier question about Sakura and Sasuke. "What am I to you?"

He growled at my teasing tone and his eyes flashed. "You're mine," he possessively responded before reclaiming my lips in a searing kiss.


	11. Omake: Ramen

**The Clan Wars**

* * *

Setting: This omake takes place outside of the normal plot and timeline of the story.

* * *

**Omake: Ramen**

My left eye twitched in agitation and I fidgeted incessantly in discomfort.

"Gaara," I whined, my blue eyes wide desperation.

Gaara turned his raccoon like eyes towards me and stared at me apathetically. He gave no indication that he was willing to alleviate my discomfort. I twitched once again.

Gaara gave me a long suffering stare.

I flinched and twitched as Aki suddenly pounced, appearing out of nowhere. "Naruto-chan," she purred, "it is time for a check-up!" The blood thirsty medic paused and she looked me over. "What is wrong, Naruto-chan?" Aki asked as she observed my twitching form and longing apparent in my wide blue eyes.

When I didn't answer, she turned her gaze towards Gaara and raised an eyebrow in question, clearly demanding an explanation.

"Naruto is going through withdrawals," Gaara stated in a dry tone.

"Withdrawals?"

"Yes!" I declared. "Gaara is the only one who can help, and he hasn't!"

A mischievous glint appeared in Aki's eyes at my declaration. "You should help Naruto-chan, Gaara," she suggested.

"Yeah, Gaara," I whined. "It's been weeks!"

A suggestive smirk spread across Aki's face. "He looks a bit desperate, Gaara. Why don't you sate his need?"

Teal eyes glared at her and Gaara sighed in exasperation. "Fine, Naruto."

"Yeah! Let's go ask Tobirama for noodles!" I cheered in excitement.

"Noodles?" Aki asked in confusion.

"Gaara makes the best ramen! I've been trying to persuade him to make me some for that last couple of days!"

"What exactly did you think Naruto wanted, Aki?" Gaara asked with an eyebrow raised. The Ichibi Jinchuuriki smirked at the light blush that dusted her cheeks.

"Nothing," the Senju medic muttered in poorly concealed disappointment. "What is ramen?" she asked.

My cry of pain and disbelief echoed across the sky. "How can you not know what ramen is? It is the food of gods!"


	12. Report

**The Clan Wars**

* * *

**Chapter 9: Report**

**Jump him! Jump him! Jump him!**

_'Kurama! Shut the fuck up!'_

The fox grumbled in disappointment and I sighed in relief as the chanting in my head abated. Having a sex-deprived, horny fox sharing your mind was no easy thing. It was driving me absolutely insane!

Gaara shot me a questioning glance as if he sensed my distraction a we hopped from tree to tree, trailing behind Hashirama, Tobirama, and Mito. We had almost reached the Senju compound and we were anxious to deliver our report. It was the middle of the night and we had decided to forgo resting in order to reach the compound by sunrise.

I merely shrugged in response to Gaara and continued on my way.

I turned my face away to hide my blush as I remembered the other night with Gaara. I can't believe that we kissed! Thankfully, we had both agreed to wait to discuss it until we returned to the Senju compound.

I concentrated on making my face go back to normal and I was able to do so much sooner than I expected. I needed to stop acting like a silly teenage girl!

I had little experience in relationships, especially intimate ones, so I was unsure of what to make of the situation. I was shunned by a majority of the village through my childhood and early adolescent year and I had few opportunities to forge relationships of any sort.

However, after I defeated Pein, the looks of hatred and distaste decreased significantly. I was resected by my fellow shinobi, and the civilians of the village who were about my age, gathered around me with praise and support. A majority of the eder civilians who were largely set in their ways, remained set in their opinions, but they knew better to continue to directly insult or attack me.

When Hinata had admitted her feelings to me when she attempted to rescue me from Pein, I was shocked that anyone could possibly have such positive feelings towards me, let alone romantic ones. After that, we attempted dating, but it fell to pieces when I realized that I loved Hinata as a sister and not as a lover.

That was the end of the only official relationship that I had ever had.

Once I discovered my feelings for Gaara and they continued to grow, I felt no desire to enter a deep or committed relationship with anyone. That didn't mean that I was completely inexperienced with sex, but I had only ever slept with two people.

After I had been declared Hokage and officially received my title, there had been a large celebration and several of my friends and I had become incredibly drunk in our joy. It was the next morning that I woke up with a throbbing headache, a fuzzy mind, a sleeping Inuzuka Kiba next to me who was clearly naked. The memories are fuzzy, but I certainly remember what we had been doing for a majority of the night. You can't blame me! Kiba isn't exactly bad looking!

The only other person I had slept with was with Yamanaka Ino and in two words it was comfort sex. Sakura had been killed a few days before and I was wallowing in my grief and Chouji had just died the day before. Ino had approached me with tears in her eyes and we both needed companionship. I slightly regret it, as both of us were in no position to be sleeping with others, but it happened and Ino was a close friend of mine.

So, I had little experience with relationships, and just slightly more experience with sexual relations.

I wondered if Gaara had made progress in creating emotional ties and relationships with other people. It worried me that he may not fully understand his emotions or the consequences of his actions. Until the Chuunin Exams, he had never had a solid relationship that hadn't gone seriously wrong. The fiasco with Yashimaru when he was a child had really fucked him up.

Gaara was making loads of progress, but in the scheme of things, he had only the emotional intelligence of a six or seven year old. Then again, I wasn't much better.

Did Gaara really have the same feelings that I did? Did he truly understand? I wasn't even sure that I understood.

Gaara made me happy, and I wanted to be with him all of the time. And he certainly was attractive... But, could I truly be capable of experiencing anything stronger when I myself had never truly been cared for and loved as a child?

I could only hope for the best.

* * *

We were entered a large house in the center of the small Senju village just as the sun was beginning to rise. Hashirama and Tobirama led the way to where their father was residing while Gaara and I follow and Mito brought up the rear.

I followed Tobirama into a large office and quickly scanned the room. It appeared to be empty of any occupants. Hashirama gestured for all of us to sit as Tobirama flopped into a nearby chair.

I gladly sat into a seat next to Tobirama and Gaara gracefully sat in the chair on my other side.

I turned to look towards the right hand side of the room as I sense an approaching presence. From the subtle tilting of Gaara's head I knew that he had sense the same as I.

It appeared that none of the others had sensed the approaching person it, but that was not exactly surprising. Ninja may have enhanced senses, but their senses were nowhere as strong as that of Jinchuuriki. Also, Gaara had a healthy dose of paranoia mixed with insanity that made it almost impossible for us to be sneaked up on. We were Kage after all.

I took a deep breath through my nose attempting to catch the scent of the approaching person. There were many jutsu that could skillfully hide a person from sight and even hearing, but few were able to fully conceal the scent of a person.

I relaxed as I recognized the scent and I looked directly at where the scent was coming from and said, "You can come out Aki-chan."

Aside from Gaara, the others started and Aki appeared in a poof of smoke. "How could you tell?" the blonde haired, curvy kunoichi demanded, brown eyes narrowed.

I grinned and laughed. "Why would I tell you that?" I asked. It was a joy to taunt her and I could see the slight creasing in Gaara's eyes indicating that he was amused.

Aki tooked a threatening step towards me and declared, "That jutsu is perfect! I have been using it for years and have not been caught!"

Teal eyes flashed with amusement as Gaara said in a dry tone, "We could smell you."

The admission gave Aki pause as she carefully mulled over the red-haired Jinchuuriki's response. Looking peeved and annoyed she bit her lip and nodded reluctantly in understanding. She opened her mouth to say something, but quickly snapped it shut as the entrance to the office opened and a man gracefully entered.

Despite his graying hair and apparent age, the man was still a formidable character. I immediately recognized the common facial features between the man and the Senju siblings.

Tobirama and Hashirama simultaneously greeted the man with a clear, "Otou-sama." Mito stood from her seat and bowed to the man, her battle kimono wrinkling slightly at the motion. "Senju-sama," she stated clearly in a respectful manner.

Gaara and I remained silent. We understood the hierarchy within the room and knew that if we went out of our way to greet a man who had not yet been formally introduced to us, then we would be putting ourselves at a disadvantage. None in the room may have known our titles, but we were still Kage and we were a forced to be reckoned with.

Not one to stay silent or keep the peace for long, Aki, from her corner of the room, cheerfully greeted the gray-haired man with a bright, "Tou-chan!"

The man gave slight nods to all who greeted his entrance and fixed his dark eyes on Gaara and I.

"I am the Senju Clan head, Senju Chikara," he stated in a serious tone. "From your appearance and the fact that you are no longer wearing chakra restraints, I presume that Kenji determined you to be trustworthy."

Chikara laced his fingers together and rested his chin upon them as he leaned forward intently and continued, "Despite the high level of trust that I have for my friend and ally, Kenji, I am going to need a more solid guarantee of your intention to not be hostile towards us. Whether this is through you two joining us, aligning with us, or agreeing to leave us be, we must reach an agreement.

"However, this will be determined after Hashirama reports that outcome of your journey to Uzu no Kuni."

Senju Chikara was certainly an impressive figure. I could easily how his influence would lead Hashirama and Tobirama to become the first two Hokages.

The Senju Clan head nodded swiftly towards his eldest son after his ultimatum, indicating his desire for a report.

Hashirama clearly reported the occurrences with Uzumaki Kenji at Uzu no Kuni. I was able to refrain from twitching when Hashirama described how certain Kenji was that we could have easily overloaded the chakra restraints. I was hoping that Gaara's and my lack of hostile activity would garner his favor and trust. I could only hope that it would work.

Chikara also seemed very interested to learn how easily I beat his youngest son in a spar and my unpredictable usage of various forms of Taijutsu. I could only reflect on how glad I as that no one recognized that I had incorporated some Uchihaken into my style. That would have created some awkward and unwanted questions.

Chikara tensed as Hashirama described the remains of the Takezashi compound and the evidence we had uncovered.

"This is a great blow to us and our allies," the gray-haired man mused pensively. "You have mentioned that you think the attack was caused by the Uchiha Clan. How sure are you of this, my son?"

Hashirama's eyes flashed with conviction as he said, "The main jutsu used in the attack were _Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu_ and _Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu_ which are both signature techniques of the Uchiha."

Chikara sighed heavily before he said, "Signature techniques they may be, but there are many others who know those jutsu. That is not enough evidence, Hashirama. We cannot go to war over assumptions."

"Those red-eyed bastards crave war, Otou-sama! That is exactly what they desire and we must be prepared!" Hashirama declared, barely remaining in his seat.

Chikara's eyes darkened as he calmly stated, "Do not let your prejudice cloud your judgement, my son. We must approach this cautiously."

Hashirama opened his mouth to resume arguing when Tobirama placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Calm down, Nii-san," he said before his brother could say anything. "Tou-san is right. We must make sure of the truth."

"If I may offer a suggestion, Senju-sama?" Mito said from her chair of the other side of Hashirama.

"Yes, Mito-san?"

"The Takezashi Clan was vital to Hi no Kuni as a whole, not just to us and our allies. We should request from the daimou for permission to hold a meeting including all of the major clans within Ki no Kuni. We can determine what must be done in order to compensate for the loss, and present the evidence we discovered. We can bring our accusations directly to the Uchiha and hear what they have to say.

"The other major clans will be there to not only mediate and assist decision making, but they will also be there to side against the Uchiha if they are to blame. If the Uchiha did indeed attack the Takezashi, then none will be pleased, including their allies."

"Brilliant idea, Mito-san. After we conclude here, I will immediately contact the daimou and that major clans within Hi no Kuni."

Mito nodded in understanding and Chikara focused his gaze on Gaara and I. "Now, what to do with you two?"


End file.
